It’s often said that no company has spent more money in digital cinema than Technicolor. In 1999, Technicolor entered into an alliance with Real Image Digital and Sarnoff to venture into the deployment of digital cinema. That was followed by a joint venture with Qualcomm to do the same. In 2005, following the release of DCI Specification v1.0, Technicolor engaged in VPF agreements with several of the major studios, in which a “beta” deployment of 300 screens was called for prior to full deployment and collection of VPFs. TDC never moved beyond beta, placing 300 digital cinema systems in the field at its expense.
In January, TDC quietly announced that it will close its doors, leaving behind only its digital mastering and digital distribution operations, including satellite. Notably, TDC’s Theatre Management System (TMS) will be up for sale, which may be bad news for Regal if a suitable taker doesn’t appear. Regal, alone among exhibitors, has put a lot of effort into working with TDC on its TMS development, shaping it for their needs.