Digital Delivery
FAQ
What does Digital Delivery mean?
Digital delivery of movies over the internet is the next step in the ongoing development of digital cinema technologies.
Following the installation of a special DCP24 server, your theatre begins to receive movies, digital keys and trailers right to a projection booth without any external media such as hard drives, memory sticks etc.
Aside from the savings due to the lack of cost involved in returning movie-boxes to Moscow, you also gain the advantage of easing the workload for theatre administrators and projectionists.
Delivery system installation requirements for a theatre
The main requirement is unlimited internet access with a minimum speed of 4 Mbits. With this speed a movie can be delivered in approximately three days. Apart from this, it also requires enough space in 19-inch server rack to install the server and local network to receive content from the server of DCP24 Laboratory to playback servers.
How does it work? What movies have been already delivered and what ones are you planning to deliver soon?
How does it work? What movies have been already delivered and what ones are you planning to deliver soon?
What does the process of legal formaliziation of relations between a theatre and DCP24 Laboratory look like?
A theatre and DCP24 Laboratory make a safe custody agreement and according to it DCP24 Laboratory hands the set of equipment to the theatre for the safe custody and allows the theatre to use the equipment for receiving of digital content. Based on the agreement DCP24 Laboratory makes payments to theatre for the safe custody of the equipment.
How long does the transmitting of a movie take?
With this speed of 4 Mbits a movie sized 120-150Gb can be delivered in approximately three days.
Three days, is it long?
At first sight, you could think that’s a long time, but only if you think in terms of hard drive delivery.
If we look at the time the hard drive delivery takes, we realize that since DCP24 Laboratory gets a movie ready for delivery it needs to be processed for rather long time. This process includes the assembling of the master disk with trailers, copying for disk delivery, packing into cases, preparing delivery notes for logistic companies and disk delivery to the theatres themselves. As the result, it takes approximately three days since the moment a movie can be delivered via digital delivery system to the moment the hard drives can be sent. This means that usually the movie delivered over the internet reaches a theatre earlier than hard drive while? as? this movie leaves our office in Moscow.
One more detail ought to be mentioned, especially if we talk about foreign films. Usually, English language movie packages are available for delivery two or three weeks before the first run. If we work with hard drives, we wait until Russian localization packages containing sound and subtitles arrive, and only then both packages on the disk are sent. Digital delivery system allows to start the process of delivery of English package immediatley, while the second one — Russian, of a smaller size — will be delivered later.
What if, for some reason, a movie couldn't be digitally delivered before the first run?
Specialists from DCP24 Laboratory control the whole delivery process to every individual theatre. As the digital delivery of a movie starts well in advance, there is always some extra time between the end of delivery and the first run. In case of any problems with connection, unavailable internet access or server breakdown, when it's evident the delivery cannot be finished on time, our specialists duplicate the movie on disk.
How is the continuity and security of content provided in the delivery process, and in case of disconnection, what happens?
To provide the continuity and security of content, the following means are used:
1. A special transmission protocol; in case of disconnection for any reason, after the connection is reestablished, the download process continues from the same place. So the content that has been already delivered will not be lost.
2. In case the ip-address of a theatre has been changed, a transmitting server also re-installs delivery settings according to new ip-address and the transmission continues.
3. After the DCP package is delivered, we control the checksum. In case of checksum error invalid parts are downloaded again. Content is available on local FTP server only after the check of continuity is completed. It helps to avoid downloading of unchecked or broken content to playback server.
4. Four hard drives connected by RAID10 are used to keep content on server. It means, that in case one of the hard drives is disabled, the system continues its work and no data will be lost. After the hard drive is changed, system resyncs RAID and keep on using all three hard drives.
5. The server installed at the theatre sends state reports to central server of delivery system. Managers of DCP24 Laboratory watch the process and in case of any problems take immediate measures.
Apart from movies, can digital keys and trailers be delivered?
Yes, trailers and digital keys also can be delivered and available on FTP server installed at the theatre. The list of trailers is available on system interface so the projectionist can choose a trailer to download.
Digital keys, generated both by our Laboratory or any other Russian or foreign one, are downloaded automatically
How to copy content from DCP24 server to a playback server?
There are two network interfaces in DCP24 Laboratory server. The first is used for internet connections, another for local networks that unites playback servers. So, all the content at DCP24 Laboratory server is available at every playback server in the theatre. Due to these measures, all external media are excluded from work at the theatre. Digital keys, trailers, movies are delivered over the network right to playback servers.
What does the procedure of equipment installation at the theatre look like?
You fill the application form at our website (http://www.dcp24.ru/dd24/form), our manager contacts you to specify all details. Then an agreement is sent to be confirmed and, after signing the agreement, we install the equipment at the theatre, finalyze formal notes and start the delivery process.