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Digital technology `will improve viewing quality'
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"As the whole film is palm size and the projector is also very small, it is easy to install."
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Today films are going increasingly digital. "Mumbai Express", which has been shot with the new technology, will be screened in the digital format wherever digital projection is available.
S.R. Ashok Kumar recently spoke to Chong Wan Nang, founder and CEO of the GDC Technologies, a company that has pioneered digital post-production, delivery and presentation technologies. Digital cinema will truly improve quality of viewing and help the filmmakers to combat the menace of video piracy.
He received his B.Eng. (Honours) and Ph.D. degrees in electronics and electrical Engineering from University of Strathclyde, U.K. before joining the faculty of the School of Computer Engineering at Nanyang Technology University, Singapore.
Only later did he join GDC Holdings, Hong Kong. His team received the worldwide Texas instruments' digital signal processing solutions challenge US $100,000 award. "This helped us in a big way to use our resources as well as our ability more fruitfully in areas such as digital filming, high definition TV and digital TV research in Singapore."
Dr. Chong has been involved in the field of image processing, video coding, digital cinema and motion picture restoration for over a decade. "I was among the few that time to use the Revival digital technique and used it to restore a large number of priceless movies."
He now offers solutions for digital postproduction, digital delivery and exhibition of films, onscreen advertisements and alternative content. His company has manufactured equipment for over 500 digital screens across the world.
Latest technology in digital cinema servers can accept multiple frame rates, image resolutions, compression standards and audio formats and can even be used for live event presentations, he says justifying the need for digital cinema technologies.
These technologies will be a boon to exhibitors and it is also a one-time investment. "For installing the projectors one need not have a big place or spend a huge amount.
As the whole film is in palm size and the projector is also very small, it is easy to install. It is very easy to operate," Dr. Chong adds.
They also allow software that offers increased flexibility to meet different requirements in terms of content encryption, decoding and rendering sub-titles.
Delving on flexibility, he recalls how the maker of `Thiruppachi' was able to chop off a scene in just a minute. "That is one advantage of digital cinema."
His company has been behind the electronic cinema complexes in India. It has tied up with Kalasa in Chennai. "In just a year, nearly a dozen theatres were changed to digital cinema because of the efforts of Ramesh Subramanium of Kalasa.
In future, he sees nearly all cine complexes going digital. Already south India has over 300 such facilities. These theatres can release any film in a digital format.
Dr. Chong says that digital cinema is the future and one will be able to see crystal clear pictures and hear clear sounds.
This will enhance the quality of viewing too.
This has been proved in two Tamil films "Machie" and "Azhagiye Theeyae".
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Life
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
Madurai
Thiruvananthapuram
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