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Re: First Film To Be Sent Via Satellite




Shawn,

The transfer rate is directly related to the compression rate.   At present 
the highest quality MPEG compression is ~14Mbs.  There are very high loss 
compression technologies that can go as low as ~5Mbs.  If you know anyone 
from Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE), they can 
give you better specifics.

Thank you,
Roy Bynum

At 07:46 AM 11/17/00 -0600, Rogers, Shawn wrote:

>Anyone know how big a movie is (in GB's)?  I'd like to figure the transfer 
>rate.
>
>Shawn Rogers
>
>First Film To Be Sent Via Satellite
>
>By GARY GENTILE
>AP Business Writer
>
>LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Movie-goers in New York's Times Square will get a 
>glimpse of the future Friday when they see
>Miramax's ``Bounce'' -- the first film to be beamed via satellite to a 
>theater.
>
>Hollywood has been experimenting with digital projection for several 
>years. A handful of movies, from Warner Bros.' ``The Perfect Storm'' to 
>Disney's ``Tarzan,''
>
>have already been shown on special projectors that use computer discs 
>rather than bulky and brittle film.
>
>In those experiments, a movie is transferred from a master at a 
>post-production house to a digital file, then compressed onto several 
>discs. The discs are shipped to
>
>theaters where the files are decompressed and stored on large computers.
>
>This summer, Twentieth Century Fox sent a digital version of its animated 
>``Titan AE'' to a theater over a fiber optic cable.
>
>But history was made earlier this week, when a digital copy of ``Bounce'' 
>was converted to an electronic stream and bounced off a Boeing satellite using
>
>military-strength encryption. The movie was also sent separately via a 
>fiber optic cable. It was the first test of a system that may one day 
>eliminate the scratches and
>
>pops and stray hairs that routinely mar the movie going experience.
>
>``You can't scratch a zero or a one,'' Phil Barlow, executive vice 
>president of the Disney Motion Picture Group, said Thursday. Miramax is 
>owned by The Walt
>
>Disney Co [NYSE:DIG - news].
>
>``Bounce'' is a love story between an advertising executive (Ben Affleck) 
>and the widow (Gwyneth Paltrow) of a man to whom he gave his ticket on a doomed
>
>airplane.
>
>A master of the movie was transferred to a highly-compressed digital file 
>using equipment made by QuVIS Inc. of Topeka, Kan.
>
>The file was encrypted by Boeing, which then added a second layer of 
>encryption to the electronic stream it sent via satellite. It took 8 hours 
>to send the file from
>
>Tulsa, Okla., to a satellite dish atop the theater in New York.
>
>Once in the theater, a QuVIS computer decrypted and expanded the file and 
>stored it on several computer hard disks. From there, it was projected 
>using equipment
>
>made by Texas Instruments.
>
>Williams Communication of Tulsa, Okla., provided uplink services for the 
>satellite and also relayed the movie via its broadband fiber optic network.
>
>Movie studios are searching for a way to eliminate costly prints, which 
>can range from $1,500 to $2,000 each for as many as 4,000 copies for a 
>major release.
>
>Studio executives feel that the better quality provided by digital copies 
>will also generate more revenue by luring more people back to 
>state-of-the-art theaters.
>
>``The savings will not accrue to the studios for some time,'' Barlow said. 
>``The best way to make more money is having more people coming in to see 
>the movies.''
>
>Right now, the cost of digital projection equipment is steep -- anywhere 
>from $150,000 to $200,000 per screen. That compares with about $35,000 for a
>
>conventional projector.
>
>Barlow estimates that digital projection won't become widely accepted 
>until the costs come down under $75,000.
>
>Theater owners are reluctant to shoulder the cost, especially when many 
>chains are struggling with massive debt incurred to build new theaters. 
>Studios and theater
>
>chains are discussing a formula to apportion the capital costs, especially 
>since the studios will reap the initial financial benefits.
>
>``We understand that the burden needs to be shared in proportion to the 
>benefit received,'' Barlow said.
>
>For now, chains such as AMC Entertainment Inc., which owns the AMC Empire 
>Theater in Times Square, are working with the studios and technology companies
>
>to test new systems.
>
>``We see our role at this point as being a proponent of digital technology 
>because we see it as right for our business and our customers,'' Rick 
>King, an AMC
>
>spokesman said. ``We'll put the cost issues aside for now. If the returns 
>are there for the investments, then money will be found to make the 
>investment.''
>
>___________________________________________
>Shawn Rogers,   PMP
>s-rogers@xxxxxx
>Serial Gigabit Products Dev. Mgr.
>Texas Instruments/ 12500 TI Boulevard
>M/S 8732/ Dallas, Texas 75243
>Tel: 214-480-2678, Fax: 214 761-6954 Pager: 972-597-1803
>___________________________________________