Type of Question
Task-oriented Question that should result in a number of new Recommendations.
2 Reasons for the Question
A new practice, called "D-cinema", is being introduced in several
countries, whereby feature films can be distributed in the form of digital
signals, in real-time or non-real-time, for collective viewing in cinema
theatres equipped with appropriate electronic projectors.
This practice is intended to emulate cinema presentation in terms of picture
and sound quality, size of the presentation screen, and presentation
environment. It is expected to offers benefits over traditional cinema
distribution methods, in terms of faster and less expensive distribution of
program material for collective viewing.
D-cinema thus opens the possibility to distribute feature films and other
program material, having a picture and sound quality appropriate to the cinema,
to communities that do not have access to cinema theatres, such as in small
towns or in rural areas, particularly when the population is spread in small
towns over a large territory.
In a future perspective, it can be expected that the use of
D-cinema will also benefit developing countries, which may choose to rely on
community large-screen viewing for the delivery of feature films, and also of
entertainment, education, news and information programs, when the cost of the
necessary equipment will become attractive thanks to economies of scale in its
production.
Studies on D-cinema are currently under way in several national, regional, or
worldwide organizations and industry groups such as MPEG, and notably in ITU-R
Study Group 6, whose scope includes several aspects of D-cinema.
It is desirable and urgent that ITU-T Study Group 9 should participate in
those studies, for the part that falls in its scope. These studies would include
aspects related to content management, conditional access and copy protection.
The purpose of those studies is to identify technical solutions to the
transport of D-cinema program material, making sure that those are harmonized or
interoperable with the solutions studied by other organizations and industry
groups for D-cinema, notably with the solutions studied by ITU-R Study Group 6
for D-cinema secondary distribution via the digital broadcasting infrastructure
(terrestrial and satellite).
3 Questions
3.1 Do the D-cinema applications and the related
quality levels, that will be identified by ITU-R Study Group 6 adequately
cover all the applications of D-cinema and the related quality levels
identified within Study Group 9, and if they do not, which additional
applications should be taken into account?
3.2 Which solutions, readily interfaceable to those
studied by ITU-R Study Group 6, should be recommended for point-to-point
contribution transmission of D-cinema program material over physical
connections?
3.3 Which solutions, similarly interfaceable, should
be recommended for point-to-point primary distribution transmission of
finished D-cinema programs over physical connections?
3.4 Which solutions, equally interfaceable, can be
recommended for point-to-multipoint secondary transmission of finished
D-cinema programs to the audience at large, using the interconnected,
capillary infrastructures of digital cable television?
3.5 Can the methods currently studied or adopted for
program content management, conditional access and copy protection be used
or extended to meet the needs of D-cinema applications or should specific
methods be studied to meet the needs of some applications of D-cinema, which
are specific to the scope of Study Group 9?
4 Projected results and target dates
The results of the study should be used to prepare some new
Recommendations, which will specify the methods to be used for the delivery of
D-cinema program for purposes of contribution and of primary distribution, and
over the digital cable television infrastructure.
The studies should be completed by the end of the year 2004.
5 Relationships
Co-operation in the study of this Question should be
established with at least ITU-R Study Group 6 that has already started work on
D-cinema and has already expressed a need for co-operation with Study Group 9.
Annex to Question 22/9
Some bodies within and outside the ITU that could provide
cooperation on D-cinema
The list below provides a first indication of entities within and outside the
ITU that have an expertise relevant to D-cinema and could cooperate to D-cinema
studies within the ITU.
ITU bodies
ITU-R Working Party 6A
ITU-R Working Party 6E
ITU-R Working Party 6M
ITU-R Working Party 6P
ITU-R Working Party 6Q
ITU-R Working Party 6R
ITU-R Working Party 6S
Other international standardizing bodies
IEC – International Electrotechnical Commission
ISO – International Organization for standardization
MPEG – Moving Picture Expert Group
Regional standardizing bodies
AES – Audio Engineering Society
ATSC – Advanced Television Systems Committee
CDTV – Canadian Digital Television
DVB – Digital Video Broadcasting
EACEM - European Association of Consumer Equipment Manufacturers
ETSI – European Telecommunications Standards Institute
EDCF - European Digital Cinema Forum
EDEN – European Digital Entertainment Network.
FACTS – Federation of Australian Commercial Television Stations
IEE – Institution of Electrical Engineers
IEEE – Institute of Electronical & Electronics Engineers
ITEA – Information Technology for European Advancement
SMPTE – Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers
International unions of broadcasters
WBU-TC – Technical Committee of the World Broadcasting Unions
Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU)
Arab States Broadcasting Union (ASBU)
Caribbean Broadcasting Union (CBU)
European Broadcasting Union (EBU)
International Association of Broadcasters (IAB)
North American Broadcasters Association (NABA)
Organisación de Televisión Ibero-Americana (OTI)
Union des Radiodiffusions et Télévisions Nationales d'Afrique (URTNA).
Other bodies
Associations of cinema exhibitors
Associations of manufacturers
Associations of program production/postproduction facilities
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