- The last SMPTE 21DC ad-hoc group meetings were held towards the end of February. The next will be held June 16. Although there is work to be done, not much has happened since the last meeting. A revision of S429-2 DCP Constraints, the core document for SMPTE DCP, is still waiting to resolve ballot comments. It is this version that defines the 7.1DS audio format for SMPTE DCP. Slow progress in SMPTE is indicative of the limited support the standards effort is now getting.
- The next ISDCF Plugfest is scheduled for June 6 and 7. The Plugfests are held in the continuing process to validate that equipment is ready to play SMPTE DCP distributions. Prior Plugfests uncovered compatibility issues with on-screen subtitles and captions, and potential operations issues with closed captions.
- Cinedigm announced that it has signed up 4000 screens to date for its Phase 2 rollout. Of this, 2000 remain to be funded and installed. At the end of the month, Barco contributed $15M towards the off-balance sheet financing of systems through Cinedigm, allowing another 249 cinemas to be installed.