Q. Evaluate 3D one year after it was perhaps over-hyped by various industry types at IBC 2010—what is the reality settling down into?
There has often been a big theme or eye-catching technology at IBC and people wondering if it’s a good idea. Digital TV and HD are recent examples. Both took years to become widely available and many people needed convincing of its viability, especially about HD.
Unlike DTV and HD, 3D has been around before, several times, and each time has faded away—mainly due to the inaccuracy and inconsistency of film and huge costs. Now 3D is digital and that’s why it’s here to stay.
Digital cinema is one area that already has a proven 3D business model. Over the last year the digital cinema rollout with 3D screens has continued at a very high rate. By June 2011 more than 47,000 digital screens had been completed with 3D penetration per country ranging from 40 to 100 percent. 3DTV is working, but will take longer to become widely viewed.
Q. What broad technology trends do you think will be front-and-centre at IBC?
Broadcast 3D is an area of continuing development and we can expect to see more solutions towards accurate and cost-effective production. Another area that’s starting to have an influence is Cloud services for broadcasters.
Q. What’s new that you will show at IBC and that broadcasters should look for there?
We will be showing a new universal player for various markets and applications, including alternative content in cinemas, post player, broadcast player and special venue player. There will also be new 3D converters for post and for playback.
Q. How is your new product offering different from what’s available on the market?
We work very closely with our customers and measure up their requirements to what we can do with our technology. The new universal player is not just a one-function box such as a player or a converter, but a whole solution that plugs in and does a whole job—getting the job done without the need for further peripheral equipment. This approach to equipment design creates affordable solutions with a feature list that benefits leading-edge technology.
Q. Where are you based, and how many employees do you have? Anything else we should know about your company?
Doremi operates from three locations worldwide: Burbank, Calif.; Sophia-Antipolis, France and Tokyo with a total of 150 people.
Q. How many years have you been going to the IBC show and what’s your fondest memory? What’s your favourite restaurant or pub?
Doremi’s first IBC was in 1996. Over the years there have been many memorable moments, but perhaps the most significant one was in 2004. We hired the RAI Auditorium to present the famous ASC STeM test film playing JPEG 2000 compressed material from one of our servers at 300 Mbps. This was very close to DCI’s recommendation published soon after and, of course, the audience saw a perfect “film.” This was a turning point as it proved we had the required technology. The server and decoder ensemble developed into our DCP-2000 digital cinema server that rapidly gained wide recognition. We soon became the market leader, a position we are proud to still hold.
