Talking innovation, with GDC Technology

Omnex’s very own Steve Case spent some time with Adam MacDonald, European Sales Manager of GDC Technology to find out more about their range of products and services.

GDC, headquartered in Hong Kong, supports the UK from its European office in London. Inspired by advances being made in digital filmmaking and projection in the late 1990s, it was founded in 2000 by Dr. Man-Nang Chong. Today, GDC has an award-winning range of cinema technologies. Here’s what they had to say:

Steve: Can you start by telling us a little bit about GDC?

Adam: Steve, thank you for taking the time to speak with me… GDC Technology is a global leader in the design, manufacture and sales of digital cinema solutions. We provide innovative hardware and software products and services to help cinemas enhance the movie-going experience for audiences around the world.

Steve: Could you tell us about GDC Technology and its role within the cinema industry?

Adam: We offer a comprehensive suite of products from media servers through to new audio solutions, together with technical and customer services that enable cinema operators to deliver a high-quality experience to audiences.

Steve: Over the past few years you have seen tremendous sales of the SR1000 IMB (over 20,000+ sold!). Can you tell us why it has enjoyed such success?

Adam: The SR-1000 IMB is a nextgeneration IMB that features advanced audio and video processing capabilities. It supports the latest immersive audio formats, including Dolby Atmos and DTS:X for IAB, as well as advanced video playback such as HFR up to 4K 3D at 120 frames per second. It also has an optional built-in 2Tb CineCache (cache memory storage) and content security features to ensure content is protected from piracy.

Steve: It sounds powerful. What impact is it having on the industry?

Adam: We believe that the SR-1000 helps cinema operators provide an even more immersive experience to their audiences. For example, the SR-1000 with its optional built-in cinema audio processor support for immersive audio with DTS:X for IAB will allow moviegoers to feel as if they are in the middle of the action. Additionally, the content security features will help protect the valuable content that cinemas rely on. Let’s also not forget how important reliability is! This product is independently tested by SGS for 100,000-hours MTBF (Mean Time Between Failures) for ultra-high reliability

Steve: Can you share details on other transformative products GDC has?

Adam: We are constantly working on new products and improvements to our technologies. This year, we are launching much-needed audio products, such as digital to analogue converters and more. We appreciate cinema operators want to deliver the best experiences and also need to be conscious of getting the most life out of their existing technology. For example, GDC can offer technology to prolong the life of Sony’s SRX-320 projectors with a special kit that can allow our IMB technology to work within these projectors; and we even have Series 1 DLP Cinema projector kits to also allow the latest IMB technology in these legacy systems.

Steve: What makes GDC Technology’s cinema solutions stand out?

Adam: Our solutions are designed to provide the best possible movie-going experience for audiences and to help cinemas to streamline their operations and reduce costs. We have a wide range of products that can help cinemas to reduce costs and increase efficiency with technology such as the Cinema Automation CA2.0 Streaming and Automation suite; we also have Power Management technology to assist cinemas in the automated turning on and off of equipment in the projection booth — so important in this day and age where energy costs are high and any way to save energy is a positive!

We’re proud of the work we do at GDC Technology. Our goal is to help cinemas deliver the best possible moviegoing experience for audiences, and we’re always striving to find new ways to achieve that goal.