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MillimeterMicrospace Communications Corporation, the leading provider of point-to-multipoint satellite services for business applications, is donating a complete satellite network package to the Digital Cinema Laboratory, a unit of the Entertainment Technology Center at the University of Southern California, it was announced recently by Microspace manager of digital cinema development Sam Matheny. The Entertainment Technology Center (ETC) researches and tests new entertainment technologies and its Digital Cinema Lab (DCL) is considered the premiere Hollywood facility exploring digital cinema solutions. Microspace is providing a complete high-speed satellite transmission network and a reception terminal to bring its VELOCITY® satellite service to the DCL and help support the Lab's evaluation of digital cinema delivery, security and projection systems.
"We are very impressed by the work being done at the ETC," said Matheny, "and see the Center as THE place to interact with key members of the digital cinema community, i.e., the studios, content producers and the Digital Cinema Initiatives (DCI). It also provides a great opportunity for interested parties to interact with Microspace and that interaction will help us insure that our satellite-based delivery solution is right for the market. We fully understand that the ultimate delivery solution will need to be cost effective, highly reliable and extremely secure."
"As the DCL begins to focus on the distribution portion of the digital cinema chain, we will demonstrate and test the three alternative means of delivery to theatres: packaged media, terrestrial broadband and satellite," said Charles S. Swartz, executive director/CEO of the ETC. "To that end, we are extremely pleased to have direct, ongoing access to the Microspace system."
Microspace introduced the VELOCITY system in 1996 to serve the business-to-business market and has been perfecting the system's digital cinema capabilities since that time. The VELOCITY service rapidly transports both digital cinema imagery and pre-show content with no resolution limits. Pre-show content--advertising, short films, live events and other unique content--is of increasing interest to one of the DCL's founding members, The National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO), as it looks toward the digital theatre of the future. In addition to availing its equipment to the DCL staff, sponsors, founding members and clients, Microspace plans to host special events at the DCL.
About Microspace:
Microspace Communications Corporation (Microspace) delivers video, audio and data services across business networks at up to 98 percent lower cost than terrestrially based telecommunications carriers. Microspace is the leading provider of point-to-multipoint satellite services and operator of the largest business satellite-broadcasting network in the world. Its VELOCITY satellite service enables reliable and affordable distribution of a broad range of applications from business television to streaming audio/video broadcasting to high-bandwidth data transmission. Microspace offers its VELOCITY satellite service under an innovative fixed pricing model, allowing a company to simply and affordably expand its bandwidth as enterprise network applications demand it. Microspace's customers include companies such as Muzak, Morgan Stanley and eSignal. Founded in 1988, Microspace is a privately held company headquartered in Raleigh, NC, and a subsidiary of Capitol Broadcasting Company, founded in 1937. For more information, visit
About the Entertainment Technology Center and Its Digital Cinema Laboratory:
Founded in 1993, the Entertainment Technology Center at the University of Southern California (ETC) is a stand-alone, neutral research organization funded by Hollywood studios and high-tech companies. It is devoted to identifying pivotal, new entertainment technologies and creating programs to analyze and test them. The ETC's projects include the Digital Cinema Laboratory (DCL), which examines digital mastering, distribution and exhibition; and the "new digital home," which is being established to explore the consumer's emerging options for on-demand digital content. The ETC's sponsors include all the major Studios, (Disney, MGM, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Twentieth Century Fox, Universal, Warner Bros. and Viacom/Paramount) and leading high-tech companies and organizations (LucasFilm, Laser Pacific Media Corporation, Panasonic, SBC and TRW). For more information, visit www.etcenter.org.