Christie, main supplier of projectors in the digital deployment of Yelmo Cines in Spain

The Christie Solaria series has been chosen by the Spanish exhibition chain Yelmo Cines for the second phase of digital cinema deployment that includes the digitization of 370 screens, which constitutes the largest implementation to date of digital cinemas in Spain. Arts Alliance Media (AAM), together with the Kelonik group, a local integrator in Spain, is carrying out the installation and maintenance. Approximately half of the rooms are being equipped with 3D with the RealD XL system.

The Christie Solaria series have been chosen by the Spanish exhibition chain Yelmo Cines for the second phase of digital cinema deployment that includes the digitization of 370 screens, which constitutes the largest implementation to date of digital cinemas in Spain. Approximately 80% of the digital projectors that will be installed by August 2011, the end date of the digital rollout, will be from Christie.

Yelmo Cines is one of the main film exhibition companies in Spain and has 396 theaters in 31 centers. Arts Alliance Media (AAM), together with the Kelonik group, a local integrator in Spain, is carrying out the installation and maintenance. Right now, AAM and Kelonik have already equipped approximately two hundred rooms on the circuit.

In 2009, Christie had also been the brand chosen to equip all of the digitized theaters during the first phase of Yelmo Cines' digital cinema deployment, which included thirty screens.

Enrique Martínez, technical director of Yelmo Cines, commented that “we were satisfied with the performance of the Christie equipment, its robustness, and its quality-price ratio, which is why we have decided again to install mostly Christie projectors in our total deployment process.”

Due to the wide variety of screen sizes and projection distances that Yelmo has in its cinemas, the company will use all models of Christie Solaria projectors, from the CP2210, to the CP2230, through the CP2220.

4K and 3D

At this time, Yelmo Cines has not yet chosen which theaters in its circuit should be modified for 4K DLP. "Normally they should be the largest rooms in a complex, but in many of our cinemas we have not only one large room with 400 seats or more, but two, three or even four rooms of this size. The peace of mind of being able to upgrade to any of them, without having to make the choice right now, ensures success without increasing costs," says the technical director of Yelmo Cines.

Approximately half of the theaters are being equipped with stereoscopic 3D, using the RealD XL system. All cinemas will have installed a Theater Management System (TMS) and Library Management Server, content management software provided by AAM. In addition, each center will have specialized equipment for receiving digital copies and live events via satellite thanks to the collaboration of Arqiva, AAM partner. As for the servers, Yelmo Cines is installing the Doremi DCP-2000.

By mid-2011, Yelmo Cines will achieve complete digitization of all its screens, thus becoming the first Spanish exhibitor to digitize its business 100%.