digital projectors use flashes of light to paint a movie

Threatened by Michelle MARRIOTTMAY 27,1999 first $100 million paying users crammed into the cinema last week to see The Phantom of the \'Star Wars\' movie, few of them realize or even care, in 5% minutes, only 130 of the time does not have digital enhancements like computers --
Characters and background generated.
But if George Lucas had his way, the entire movie experience could soon be reduced to 1 and 0. On June 18, Mr.
Lucas\'s Lucas film company is expected to use a new digital projector to screen Phantom dreams in four theaters.
The film will be transmitted to the cinema via satellite and then shown on the screen via a film-free projector. -
It is completely different from the way the film was shown last century.
The only thing is popcorn and soda.
\"I think this is really a good proof of concept,\" Lance Weiler said of Lucas Pictures\'s plan . \". In October, Mr. Weiler, co-
Founder of electronic film company wave ength release in Bucks County, near Philadelphia, digitally presented his own film \"last broadcast,\" which he directed with Stefan AvalosThe full-
Digital units of length are produced (also digitally)
About $900, delivered to five theaters via satellite and expected to be in standard-
Movie screen size.
\"Digital technology has invaded everything,\" he said . \"
Weiler believes that the digital release of the film will eliminate the need for 35 expensive prints
MM-level movies, and the money and time it takes to ship them all over the world.
\"It will make sense to go into the release and shipping of the film.
\"The core of the advertising system is the digital projector,\" says Tim J.
Butler, marketing and communications manager for digital projection, manufacturer of Ga Kenneth projection systems.
These are expensive but affordable.
Size, the projector has been quietly widely used in the private screening room, after
Production companies and live presentations such as the \"film\" sequence in TV awards programs such as Oscar and Grammy.
But Sir.
Butler said that the next big leap for the digital projector will be multi-theater, and the cost of the digital projector will be three times that of the standard cinema projector of $30,000. There, it will be possible for them to completely change the way the film is released, screened and viewed.
In the eyes of untrained people, today\'s digital guard looks like an over-grown slide projector.
But they are much more complex and rely on microcomputer technology and powerful Xenon arc sources.
The second-generation digital projector that the company plans to update in a few months has more in common with the personal computer than the mechanical film projector.
Mike Levy, president of digital projection, explains that once a movie is sent to a cinema in digital form via satellite or electronic tape, it\'s much like a tape in a PC Backup Drive, it can be fed into the projector through a simple cable.
Inside, digital movie data goes through a 7-
A layered processing board that makes video images look more like movie images.
The processor looks at key image elements such as resolution, color, and brightness, then reformats the signal and sends instructions to the three units known as the digital micromirror device.
Each digital micromirror device contains nearly 800,000 small mirrors. (
There will be 1 new model for digital projection coming soon.
Each of its three micro-mirror devices has 3 million mirrors. )
The mirrors are very small, and the diameter of the four mirrors is about the same as the diameter of human hair, and they are able to tilt 10 degrees forward or backward on almost tiny hinges.
In addition to receiving digital information, each micromirror device receives light from a specified color from a special prism, red, green, or blue.
Sir, each mirror is able to tilt back and forth, representing a pixel of the whole picture
Levi says, so it reflects either the light or the light (
This means that the pixels are black)
More than 1,000 times per second
The light obtained from nearly 800,000 mirrors of each micromirror device is sent back to the Prism to combine the light into a complete-
The color image is then oriented through the lens and projected onto the screen for the audience to watch.
Please click on the box to verify that you are not a robot.
The email address is invalid. Please re-enter.
You must select the newsletter you want to subscribe.
View all New York Times newsletters. Mr.
Li Wei said that the projector has created a high
The frequency pulse of light that human eyes and brain integrate into pixels.
When you see all the light of nearly 800,000 pixels, they are displayed as smooth, continuous images with up to 1 billion colors.
\"It creates an image very similar to the film,\" he said . \"
Levi added that the brightness and resolution of films shown with digital projectors are superior to those shown with standard mechanical projectors.
\"It has a very continuous feeling, very accurate.
Because the film is digitally preserved, it does not show dirt and wear.
Earlier this month, the American mobile imaging Museum in Queens, as well as independent film channels and wavelength distribution companies, electronic film companies, invited the film industry and the public to judge digital screenings for themselves.
The audience gathered at the sponsor of the program, the American Directors Association, to watch films shown with traditional and digital projectors in Manhattan and to listen to group discussions.
The ad \"the most interesting thing for me,\" says Carl Goodman, digital media curator at the American mobile image Museum, \"Over time, these technological changes will have an impact on the aesthetics of the medium.
\"But many filmmakers, some of whom participated in special screenings, said that while they were interested in the possibilities that digital projectors created to showcase movies, the studio would feel most of the benefits.
Many people say that digital projectors, if any, will affect the way the movie is conceived and made. S. D.
Katz directed a satellite-broadcast digital short film, protest, which was shown at the Cannes Film Festival last week, saying, viewers are unlikely to see any real difference in the way the film is made in the near future.
\"Everyone is trying to make themselves look like a movie,\" he said of the emerging digital projection industry . \".
\"It has no reason to change.
\"But if digital projectors become commonplace in cinemas, more filmmakers may be encouraged to shoot their work digitally.
Palm Pictures, an entertainment company that produced many digital films, including a ground-breaking feature last year called \"Queen of dance halls,\" he said, the use of digital projectors may encourage more filmmakers to use digital cameras, as the high cost of transferring their work to movies will be eliminated.
He said: \"Once you find a way to show the film at a reasonable price, the digital screening will do so and you will attract people to work in the media.
\"We are constantly improving the quality of text archives.
Please send feedback, error reports, and suggestions to archid_feedback @ nytimes. com.
A version of the article appears on the national edition G00007 page in May 27, 1999, with the title: The digital projector uses flash to draw a movie.