Scrabble and Hollywood to Deploy Digital Screens to India
April 2, 2009
Scrabble Entertainment has signed non-exclusive agreements with
Twentieth Century Fox, Warner Bros, Walt Disney Studios and
Paramount Pictures, and is finalizing a contract with Universal
Pictures, to deploy digital cinema screens to India. The deployment
agreements are based upon the VPF model.
Scrabble, formed in 2007, is India’s only 2 K DCI compliant
deploying entity. The company has installed 80 screens in
metropolitan India and has plans for 500 more in 100 multiplexes in
the eight cities over the coming three years.
India’s largest exhibition circuits, including PVR Cinemas, Fame
India Ltd, Inox Leisure and Fun Cinemas, have signed with Scrabble
for the installation of digital systems. Prior to Scrabble, the
Indian market was dominated by 1.3 Chip E-Cinema DLP projectors (no
DCI compliance).
The digital platform will allow studios to showcase 3D titles, and
Hollywood expects to gain opportunities for wider day-and-date
releases in India at much lower costs. In addition, studios can use
this platform for alternate content, and they expect a significant
reduction in piracy because DCI compliant systems are protected
through sophisticated security and encryption technologies.
