Odeon to complete digital projector overhaul with NEC Display Solutions

Europe’s largest cinema operator Odeon UCI is to upgrade all of its 2,100 screens in its 231 cinemas across the UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria, Spain, Italy and Portugal to one of the four digital projectors available from NEC.

The move, which comes off the back of a seven-year partnership between the two companies, is in its final stages, with delivery of all the units now complete.

Along with a more reliable and better quality image, the projectors also provide the ability to stream live content such as sporting events and theatre performances. Notably, this venture comes in time for the Euro 2012 Football Championships and the Summer Olympic Games in London.

The upgrade will also increase the ease of content distribution and theatre operation, as well as creating better monitoring and control of each individual projector.

Drew Kaza, executive vice president digital development at the Odeon and UCI Cinemas Group, had the following to say about the deal:”We’ve been working closely with NEC for over seven years now, and consistently been impressed by the quality of the products and the level of support provided, at every single level.”

Mark Kendall, business development manager for digital cinema at NEC Display Solutions Europe, said: “The digitisation of cinema production and screening processes help mitigate concerns about increasing manual operating costs, security and environmental issues, but most importantly it provides the best cinema experience possible.”

Once the installations are complete, NEC and Odeon will begin discussing the possibility of expanding the partnership to include digital signage options for the foyers and network operations centres for more centralised control of each theatre.