Hot on the heels of the announcement that UK cinema chain Vue has committed to Sony’s 4K digital cinema technology comes an announcement from Barco about its alternative.
During a recent company visit from Cinemark – the world’s second largest exhibitor – Barco held a live demonstration of a pre-launch version of its upcoming DLP Cinema Enhanced 4K projector. This demo, said Barco, shows that the company is rapidly paving the way for the commercial release of its 4K projector line, which will complement its current 2K projector offering in early 2011.
Cinemark attendees were shown a live screening of native 4K content. “At Cinemark, we were the first to commit to DLP Cinema Enhanced 4K technology to provide our customers with the most unforgettable movie experience,” said Walter Hebert, senior vice president for Cinemark. “What we have seen from Barco during their 4K live demo last week definitely fits the bill. The images projected by Barco’s DP4K-32B are without any doubt the sharpest and brightest 4K images I have ever seen. It confirms once again that we made the right choice when we decided to put our trust in Barco for our global digital cinema roll out. We are excited to be offering this DLP Enhanced 4K experience to our worldwide customers in the very near future.”
Barco plans to lift the veil on its DP4K range at ShowEast in Orlando in October. Shipments are expected to begin in early 2011, as production will ramp up in line with the availability of 4K DMD chips from Texas Instruments.
