Landmark Theatres has signeda deal with Sony Electronics whereby every theatre in the chain will be equipped withSony's new digital SXRD projectors, the first commercially available 4Kprojectors on the market.

The arthouse chain will begin its digital cinema roll-out this summer with sixSXRD projectors, and plans to fully enable all its 59 theatres in 22 marketsfor digital projection.

The new Sony projectors can display images at more than four times theresolution of current high-definition displays and fit with the mission ofLandmark's owner 2929 Entertainment, founded by Todd Wagner and Mark Cuban.

Wagner and Cuban want to distribute high definition pictures produced throughtheir HDNet Films banner and are pioneers in their active espousal of thehighly anticipated digital revolution.

"Sony's 4K digital projectors allow us to project live concerts and sportingevents, ultra high-resolution movies and presentations created using futuretechnologies," Cuban said in a statement. "Most important, it provides aviewing experience for movies that far exceeds what other theatres are doingtoday with 2K projectors."

"The availability of a 4K projector is a watershed for the digital cinemaindustry," John Scarcella, president of Sony Electronics' Broadcast andBusiness Solutions company, added. "Just as Mark and his teamrevolutionised TV viewing with the launch of HDNet, so too will theinstallation of these projectors in the Landmark chain revolutionise thedigital cinema industry."

The Landmark-Sony deal is the surest sign yet that talk of the digitalrevolution at recent Showest installments is finally translating into reality.

Numerous companies are offering their wares to buyers in the packed ShoWestconvention halls at Bally's. Entertainment technology company Christie unveiledits Christie CP2000X 2K Digital Cinema projector and the Cine-IPM 2K, a 10-bitimage processor that converts analogue or digital signals for use with theprojectors.

In fact Christie announced the first deployment ofits 2K CP2000 digital cinema projectors in five Italian cities in theatres runby ARCADIA, CineCity and CineWorld.

Dolby, currently celebrating its 40th anniversary and preparing its4K digital cinema theatre system package, offered delegates a stunningdemonstration of its digital trailer.

The company recently installed 35 Dolby ScreenTalk subtitle units in Icelandthat will enable cinema owners to project colour subtitles over 35mm film usinga conventional video projector.

Today [16] THX will unveil the THX D20, a digitalnetwork crossover monitor that will become available later this year and willenable theatre owners to manage and monitor cinema audio systems.

Texas Instruments has scheduled a high-profile demonstration tomorrow withGeorge Lucas and James Cameron showcasing 3D versions of Star Wars: EpisodeIII and Aliens Of The Deep on a Christie CP2000 DLP Cinema projector.

"With digital 3D projection, we will be entering a new age of cinema,"Cameron said in a statement. "Audiences will be seeing something which wasnever technically possible before the age of digital cinema a stunning visualexperience which 'turbocharges' the viewing of the biggest, must-see movies."DLP Cinema technology is currently deployed in more than 310 theatres worldwidethrough BARCO, Christie Digital and NEC.

IMAX Corporation co-chief Rich Gelfond said on Monday [14] that the company wastalking with studios about its new technology that will allow it to renderlive-action Hollywood pictures into 3D.