Group of
companies revolutionise movie
distribution in Spain
March 13, 2013
For the first time in Spain, leading
companies from the telecommunications
sector and the movie industry have come
together with the aim of making an
innovative and ambitious project
reality, in order to modernise the
cinematographic contents distribution .
It is estimated that, at the outset,
they will be able to distribute 20,000
film copies and 30,000 trailers per year
to 2,000 movie theatres all over the
country, using the Hispasat 1E satellite
and with no need for hardware supports.
The technological advances that make up
the new distribution system offer
significant advantages as compared to
those currently used, because they
streamline the process and considerably
reduce the time spent to receive the
films in the theatre, by simultaneously
transmitting them to cinemas in just
three hours. In addition, security and
efficiency increases and logistics are
simplified, avoiding the material
becoming lost or damaged risks, and
deliveries delayed.
The power, flexibility and functionality
of the satellite makes it possible for
this type of distribution to be used for
all types of content, from HD and 3D to
the future Ultra High Definition, that
is currently being developed. Similarly,
the extensive Hispasat satellites
coverage enables to extend the solution
to Europe and to the American continent.
The Madrid Callao cinema, one of the
oldest theatres in Spain, will be a
pioneer in this new cinematographic
distribution system that will
revolutionise the dissemination process
in cinemas, in this way combining
cultural tradition and technological
state-of-the-art.
Hispasat will supply its satellite
fleet’s space segment; Ericsson has
designed the technological platform
(contents broadcasting server and
digital reception equipment); MoMe will
provide the overall system integration
and its deployment (broadcasting
antennas and receivers, operation and
system maintenance) and it will be the
service provider; lastly, Deluxe Spain,
an audio visual service provider
responsible for the most of the
cinematographic material distribution in
Spain, it will exclusively include this
solution to its services, so content can
reach cinemas via satellite.
Transmission of cinematographic contents
via satellite: dematerialisation of the
process
From the large celluloid rolls that
distributors used to receive years ago,
we have now moved on to a smaller
digital format, the DCP (Digital Cinema
Package), distributed by delivering hard
drives to all cinemas. This involves the
preparation of hundreds of film master
tape copies, which are sent in packages
that are very-well protected, given
their fragility, to the different
theatres so they can be projected. The
cinemas download the hard drive on the
projector server and they later have to
return the hardware support to the
distributor so it can be used again.
This all means deploying complicated
logistics that are not exempt from
risks, as well as delivery times for
delivering the copies of between 6 hours
and several days, depending on the
theatres location .
This entire process can now be replaced
by a single film transmission from the
Deluxe premises to all of the cinemas at
the same time. The Hispasat 1E satellite
will transmit the signal sent out by
Deluxe, will amplify it and send it back
to Earth, where it can be received by
the antenna installed in the cinemas. To
protect the transmited contents against
piracy, the theatres will receive a
digital password by electronic mail that
will enable them to decode the film.
Thanks to Hispasat fleet’s high levels
of service, which allow for transmission
speeds of over 115 Mbps, all of the
cinemas will be able to download a
medium-sized film –approximately 200
GBytes- in a secure way onto their
projectors in three hours, and a trailer
in just a few minutes.
Only these elements are necessary to
carry out this process:
- A broadcasting antenna and a
management system at the content
provider.
- A receiving antenna at the different
cinemas.
- Digital projection equipment (already
in use by many cinemas).
- A computer for downloading.
- A password that will be sent to the
cinemas for decoding the content.
In this way, satellite cinema
distribution dematerialises the process,
doing away with hardware supports and
reducing waste. To give one example, it
will eliminate over two million
kilometres per year in different
transport vehicles, which represents an
annual saving of 270 tonnes of CO2
emission.
Technological solution
Ericsson offers a technological solution
for the efficient and secure DCPs’
distribution: Ericsson CMS-D (previously
known as “MediaPath”). The solution
consists of a central server for
controlling and transferring all of the
multimedia contents (distributions) to
cinemas, and a receiving server at the
movie theatres that receives them and
sends them to the projectors.
Ericsson CMS-D provides full control of
the transfers to the cinemas from a
central console located at the Deluxe
facilities. The DCPs’ sender server is
run and controlled from that console and
the receiver or catcher servers that are
installed at each cinema, which assemble
the contents that are distributed so
that they can be sent to the projection
rooms and inform the central systems
about the progress of these transfers.
Ericsson CMS-D control console manages
full distribution to groups of cinemas,
partial distributions based upon the
titles negotiated with the studios and
any other multimedia material that may
be useful. Ericsson CMS-D provides
mechanisms for generating reports,
E–mail notifications and alerts, in such
a way that all of the transfer flows
from the DCPs are under control at all
times and all of the distributions can
be fully monitored.
MoMe, as Ericsson partner, will provide
the professional service for the
integration of the CMS-D system to
Hispasat, and the receivers’ deployment
to cinemas, as well as the front-line
levels of support in the lifecycle of
the service. Deluxe, in turn, provides
the content and manages the system.
Callao City Lights is an innovative
project that represents a unique
communication model, capable of offering
interactivity in three different
scenarios at the same time: the square,
the screens and Internet. In this way,
Callao has become transformed into a
cultural and leisure epicentre in the
style of the world great squares, such
as Times Square or Piccadilly Circus,
with over 250 sq m. of interactive
screens with superior quality Full HD,
the capacity to broadcast in 3D and
applications for downloading music and
video and sending photos and messages.
The satellite distribution process is
one of the improvements that Callao City
Lights is carrying out for this year,
together with refurbishing the seats,
completing the sound system using Bose
technology and the theatre soundproofing
and lighting , all assuming an increase
in VAT.
With this project, Callao City Lights
maintains itself at the forefront of
technology and cinematographic industry
evolution, as it has been doing over the
course of its history: it was the first
cinema in Spain to broadcasting a
“talkie” movie in 1929, “The Jazz
Singer” and also the first film recorded
in Spanish in Hollywood, "El Cuerpo del
Delito" [“The Body of Evidence”]. The
first colour film in Spain was premiered
in 1935; and the first 3D film in 1953.
In addition, it was the first movie
theatre to implement Digital Signage as
a cultural reinforcement and to support
its cinematographic offering in 2011.
