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Cinema South goes digital
BOARDMAN — The digital 3D revolution has arrived in the Mahoning Valley.
Cinema South has just completed installation of digital projection equipment in one of its auditoriums — the one that is currently showing the animated movie “Coraline” in 3D.
It’s the first screen in Mahoning and Trumbull counties to go digital, allowing it to take part in what industry insiders are calling the biggest development in cinema in decades: digital 3D movies.
Three-dimensional films (3D) have the appearance of depth, and allow for realistic effects that put the viewer into the scene. Digital also offers higher picture quality and image consistency, since — unlike film — it does not degrade with time and use.
Dozens of major movies to be released this year have been made in 3D, to take advantage of the growing technology. Among the first are “My Bloody Valentine,” which was released last month, and, of course, “Coraline.” “My Bloody Valentine” played widely in the area, although viewers were not able to see it in 3D.
Others 3D films slated to be released this year include “Avatar,” “Toy Story in 3D,” “Final Destination: Death Trip,” “G-Force,” “Monsters vs. Aliens” and “Jonas Brothers: The Concert Experience.”
In the new system, viewers still have to wear special glasses to bring out the 3D effects. The glasses are handed out at the theater, but they are not the flimsy paper jobs of years gone by with a red side and a blue side. They are plastic-framed spectacles that resemble sunglasses.
“We are excited about the conversion to digital projection in all of our cinemas,” said Richard Grover, director of communications for the Regal theater chain. He said all Regal screens will eventually be fitted for digital projection.
Under a deal announced in October, three major theater chains (Regal, Cinemark and AMC), through a company they formed called Digital Cinema Implementation Partners (DCIP), began deploying digital in nearly 20,000 screens in North America. DCIP has agreements with five major film studios to ensure the widespread rollout of digital movies. The studios are Twentieth Century Fox, Disney, Paramount, Universal and Lionsgate.
Cinema 8 in Hermitage, Pa., actually was the first area theater to go digital when its former owner, Carmike Cinemas, installed the technology in 2006. But when Cinemark sold the multiplex to Shenango Valley Cinemas, a small local chain, in 2007, it took its digital equipment with it.