James Cameron’s Lightstorm Entertainment, Inc. has renewed a deal with World leading audiovisual company Christie. This will bring the very latest state-of-the-art laser projection technology to the Avatar sequels. The companies will also cross-fertilise development.
The deal continues an exclusive, five-year agreement between the global AV company and the renowned film director, producer and deep-sea diver. The two industry leaders will continue to share their expertise. As a result, this will help create the next generation of ground-breaking technology and drive the future of the immersive cinema experience.
Delivering a Complete Cinema ExperienceÂ
James Cameron says, âTo push the boundary of digital cinema, one needs visionary, like-minded collaborators and that description fits Christie to a tee, given its long cinema heritage and impressive list of industry âfirstsâ in the projection and visual display realms.
âSeveral years ago we began our relationship, which has worked well, so Iâm pleased to be forging ahead again with Christie at my side.â
Christie will equip Lightstorm with a variety of current and planned projection systems. These will include the first of a brand new RGB laser projection series. Currently under development, this features much higher efficiencies than those lasers utilised in cinemas today.
The projection systems will be spread across Lightstormâs production facilities. They will also come with 24/7 access to the Christie Network Operations Center (NOC) and call center support. In addition, the arrangement includes replacement parts as per Christieâs standard warranty services.
Jack Kline is Chairman, President and CEO of all of Christieâs operating companies, worldwide. He says, âLike attracts like and in addition to the latest in projection technologies, Christie is fully committed to sharing our ongoing research and development efforts, including product roadmaps, with our co-visionary, Lightstorm, so that its productions will repeat the awe-inspiring success of Avatar in the years to come.
Lightstorm, Christie to Share Research
âLightstorm, and indeed our global exhibitor community, are confident in Christieâs ability to deliver a complete cinema experience, encompassing all formats, frame rates and light levels, and this agreement is indicative of this confidence.â
Jon Landau is the Academy Award-winning producer of Avatar and Titanic.  He says âJust as we push innovation with our productions, Christie is continually pushing innovation with their projection technology. Its advances in HDR development, epitomized by the co-development of the Dolby Vision projection solution with Dolby, means better in-theater experiences for audiences, which for exhibitors in turn means greater audience satisfaction and more repeat patrons.â
The collaboration will see Christie share its knowledge, equipment and services with Lightstorm. In return Cameron’s company will share with Christie the results of its own research and work. This will cover 3D, HFR and high-dynamic range (HDR) enhancements, together with formatting and color space requirements, for achieving the best viewing experience. This knowledge in turn will help Christie in creating world leading projector systems, media servers and tool kits. These are used for a variety of applications including cinema exhibition, location-based entertainment (LBE) and post-production.
Images courtesy Avatarthemovie.com