23/03/2005

Ireland will soon become the first country in the world to have digital technology in each one of its cinemas, as announced by Avica Europe, the European arm of the US company specialized in digital cinema for post-production, distribution and exhibition.
The replacement of the traditional 35mm film projectors by digital technology in more than 500 cinemas in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland will be supervised by Avica’s Irish subsidiary Digital Cinema Limited.

Nicholas Clay, Chairman and CEO of Avica said: “We are thrilled to provide the technology which will enable Ireland to be the first country in the world to make this move into the future of cinema”. He also stressed that the conversion to digital technology will have no effect upon existing business arrangements between exhibitors and distributors while delivering the inherent advantages of digital presentation systems such as enhanced security, aesthetic improvements and easier management.
Ireland’s Sports, Arts and Tourism Minister said that this digital conversion would revolutionize the distribution process and quality of films shown in Ireland and that it would “ensure that a ciema in Tralee would have the same immediate access to films as a cinema in Dublin”.
Avica, the leader in digital film technology via its widely used FilmStore Digital Cinema Player system, plans to extend its Irish venture to several other European countries.