Deutsch: UCI Kinowelt in Gera, Deutschland English: UCI cinema in Gera, Germany (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Middle East, 18 April 2012 – NEC Display Solutions Europe has been working with the Odeon and UCI Cinemas Group, Europe’s largest cinema operator, to upgrade all of its theatres across the region to use NEC digital projectors.
NEC was selected due to the reliability and excellent quality of the projectors and underpinned by the seven-year partnership between the two companies. The deal sees more than 2,100 theatres across Odeon UCI’s 231 cinemas in the UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria, Spain, Italy and Portugal upgraded to one of the four digital cinema projectors available from NEC.
This project is in its final phase – with delivery of all units now complete – and will deliver an enhanced cinema-going experience for movie lovers across the continent. Not only do these digital projectors provide a better quality and more reliable image, but also provide greater flexibility for repurposing theatres to easily adapt showings based on time of day and viewer demand. Similarly, digital projectors allow for the streaming of alternative content such as live sporting events or theatre performances.
For Odeon UCI, upgrading fully to digital projectors also provides a host of efficiency benefits, including easier content distribution – thanks to no longer needing large reels to be shipped around and stored – central control of adverts and trailers, as well as simpler theatre operation and better monitoring and control of each individual projector.
The long-standing partnership between NEC and UCI extends across all levels and all geographies, giving UCI the peace-of-mind that in the event of problems arising, there is a solid support structure in place to deal with the issue quickly and with minimal downtime.
“We strive to deliver the most engaging cinema experience for our customers, and this means not only providing the best movies, but also delivering them on the best equipment possible,” said Drew Kaza, Executive Vice President Digital Development at the Odeon and UCI Cinemas Group. “We’ve been working closely with NEC for over seven years now, and consistently been impressed by the quality of the products and the level of support provided, at every single level.”
“The digitisation of cinema production and screening processes help mitigate concerns about increasing manual operating costs, security and environmental issues, but most importantly it provides the best cinema experience possible,” said Mark Kendall, Business Development Manager for Digital Cinema at NEC Display Solutions Europe. “NEC has been a pioneer in digital cinema technologies from the outset, creating a track record of success in this area and this project, combined with our long standing relationship with Odeon UCI reinforces that position.”
Once the final digital projector installations are complete, NEC will be working with Odeon UCI to discuss the possibilities of expanding the partnership to include digital signage options for the foyers and network operations centres for more centralised control of each theatre and smoother management of the entire content delivery lifecycle.
