Through its Technicolor Digital Cinema operation, Thomson has signed agreements with Clearview Cinemas, iPic Entertainment, and Cinemworld to install its digital cinema projection systems.

Clearview Cinemas is based in New Jersey and has 50 locations with 254 screens, with a majority of those being in the New York metropolitan area. This includes the famous Ziegfeld Theatre, which has been the site of many movie premieres and red-carpet events.

Florida-based iPic Entertainment is the new company started by ex-Muvico head Hamid Hashemi. Its first location that will open is the IPic Entertainment at Bayshore Town Center in Glendale, Wisconsin, which is scheduled for a grand opening on December 7, 2007. Additional locations are being developed in California, Florida, Illinois, Ohio, and Texas.

Cinemaworld is also based in Florida, and they operate 32 screens in Florida and Rhode Island. Their West Melbourne, Florida location has been a test site for Technicolor's prototypes since 2002. 

An increasing number of theaters are beginning to transition to digital cinema projection systems due to the flexibility of the content they are able to provide, the consistent quality of presentations free from common film-related issues of scratches, splices, and wear from poor handling, and an incentive by movie studios not wishing to continue paying for printing miles of film stock for each of their movies indefinitely.

In my experience, digital cinema presentations have been very good, with the most noticeable improvements being a rock-steady picture (no vertical or horizontal jumping due to misadjusted projectors) and a complete lack of scratches and dust. While film is capable of a higher quality picture, the reality that most movie-goers face is that many movie theaters are not able to present films to the highest potential of the format. While digital cinema doesn't cure all the ills that a bad theater can inflict, it takes care of some of the more common issues and delivers a better experience in a majority of cases. 

For more information, please see our Help Document What is Digital Cinema Projection?

Source: Technicolor Press Release