Archive notice: This article was originally published on July 14, 2009. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
Apollo Kino GmbH’s multiplex cinema in Gelsenkirchen has become the first cinema in Germany to install a Sony CineAlta 4K system combined with dual-lens 3D optics from RealD. Film-Ton-Technik Hannsdieter Rüttgers GmbH (FTT) of Düsseldorf installed a CineAlta 4K system consisting of an SRX-R220 projector with an LMT-200 Media Block and the LSM-100 Screen Management System. The 3D system includes a dual 3D lens with filters specially adapted to Sony’s SXRD technology. Image information for the audience’s left and right eyes is projected simultaneously. The filter technology comes from global market leader RealD.
Michael Meyer, Managing Director and owner of Apollo Kino GmbH, comments: “We considered for a long time which route to take with digitisation. The decisive factors were ultimately that, on the one hand, we wanted to create a playback facility quickly so that we would no longer have to deny our audience the 3D blockbusters now beginning to appear. At the same time, however, we wanted to make a future-proof decision that would not already be obsolete tomorrow. Only 4K was suitable. Sony’s system provides everything from a single source: 3D that looks as though it is being presented by two projectors and is simply more comfortable for the eyes, yet comes from a stable mechanical unit; conventional digital cinema in 2K with invisible pixels; and, not least, a 4K experience that personally brings back the very best memories of the good old 70mm days. In future, we will also use the system to stage events beyond normal film screenings. Particularly in a location such as Gelsenkirchen, this allows us to address completely new groups of visitors.”
Oliver Pasch, Head of Digital Cinema Europe at Sony Professional: “Mr Meyer’s decision in favour of our technology is pioneering and more than gratifying because it confirms precisely the approaches we have always pursued in digital cinema. It is about more than simply replacing analogue 35mm technology. It is about the future of cinema, which today more than ever needs a new level of quality and fresh new content to distinguish itself from competing media.”
For Egon Gräfen, Managing Director of FTT, the conversion in Gelsenkirchen is another important step towards a large-scale D-Cinema rollout: “We are delighted to have implemented another reference installation in Germany with Sony, combining 4K technology with 3D for the first time.”
