TORONTO – (October 4, 2016) – Christie® and Evans & Sutherland are proud to be major partner-level sponsors of the annual Giant Screen Cinema Association International Conference and Trade Show (GSCA) taking place October 4-7 at downtown Toronto’s Fairmont Royal York Hotel, Scotiabank Theatre, and the Ontario Science Centre – just north of the downtown core.
Digital Dome Demo marks a historic new milestone in fulldome projection
Featuring the highest-resolution and brightest digital fulldome system ever demonstrated, and presented by the GSCA and the GSCA Technical Committee, the world’s first True8K™ Digital Dome Demo will be a conference highlight. From 9:00 a.m. until noon on Friday, October 7, industry leader and Christie partner, Evans & Sutherland will demonstrate its Digistar 6 planetarium/dome cinema system with 10 Christie Mirage 304K projectors on the 24-meter giant dome screen at the Ontario Science Centre.
Digital Dome Day also marks the return of the planetarium experience to Toronto after a 20-year absence with public shows using the True8K Digistar system scheduled for Saturday, Sunday, and Monday – the Canadian Thanksgiving.
GSCA conference delegates will see pristine 8K content across every meridian of the dome and an impartial side-by-side 15/70 film versus 8K digital comparison will enable the audience to compare the quality of both media. Numerous elements were created specifically for this event by giant screen filmmakers from around the world.
Great care was taken to create the most pristine image sources: 15/70 film was printed from the original camera negative; original camera footage in 8K was carefully mastered and color timed in full 8K resolution. Additionally, digital content will be shown at 120 frames per second (fps) to highlight the impact of high frame rate (HFR) content on the visual experience, which is possible only on the Christie Mirage 304K 30,000 lumen 4K 3DLP® projector.
“We are pleased to join forces once again with Christie at the GSCA and, this year, to showcase our new Digistar 6 system with True8K resolution,” said Michael Daut, Creative Director/Marketing Director, Evans & Sutherland Digital Theater. “15/70 film has been the gold standard for giant screen image quality since the 1970s. We trust that this demo will reset the bar and establish a new gold standard for image quality and maximum immersive impact. It's humbling and exciting to be making history with this first-of-its-kind demonstration.”
Christie technology in action at GSCA conference
A Christie HD14K-M will deliver presentations for the ‘Projects in Development’ session at the Scotiabank Theatre on October 4, and, the next day, at the Fairmont Royal York hotel, two additional Christie HD14K-M HD projectors will be part of the Christie-sponsored ‘Professional Development’ seminars.
In addition, Christie is sponsoring the Dome Day Luncheon on October 6 at the Ontario Science Centre and will have solutions experts available at the trade show from 4-8:00 p.m., October 6 for delegates to discuss upcoming projects and ask technical questions.
“Christie technology delivers an ultra-realistic, truly immersive giant screen experience that is light years ahead of traditional projection systems,” said Bryan Boehme, Director, Location Based Entertainment, Christie. “Filmmakers can see their content come to life onscreen, just as they envisioned. Theaters can delight their patrons with stunning visuals and global content, growing their box office revenue as well as dramatically reducing their operating costs.”
“Evans & Sutherland is a long-term partner of Christie,” added Boehme. “Their fulldome planetarium expertise and Digistar technology combined with the unique capabilities of our Christie Mirage 304K projectors is sure to deliver a jaw-dropping experience for attendees of this year’s Digital Dome Demo.”
