• BUSINESS TREND • We have released over 130 titles in Auro 11.1 by Barco and our next releases include such blockbusters as The Hunger Games Mockingjay Part 2, In the Heart of the Sea and Kung FuPanda 3. Was Barco's decision of getting into sound business based on the downturn impact or your realisation of drifting away from core competence? How did this realization happen -- through market watch or a timely survey? We certainly don't see it this way. Improving the state of art of motion picture exhibition technology is at the core of what we do at Barco. Immersive Sound is certainly one tangible way to make cinema-going experience something special and different from staying at home. Making such solutions available to engage audiences in a meaningful way and also making such technologies economical for today's exhibition business drives all innovations that we do, including the new laser-based projection platforms we have deployed world over this year. How would you describe your growth pattern in sound business? To what extent have you been successful? Barco is driving toward adopting a SMPTE standard for the authoring and distribution of immersive sound. Having this deliverable will certainly allow market adoption for immersive sound to reach the next level. This is our core focus for the coming months as we work with the rest of the industry in implementing such standards. Where do you see the industry heading in the next 5 - 10 years? Once standards are achieved in immersive sound, there may be a time when 5.1 (as we know it) becomes obsolete. However the adoption of these standards not just in cinema but the rest of the downstream deliverables and value chain will determine how fast and
how widely new standards are adopted and implemented. We may see a time when all theatres are "immersive"‌ Time will tell. Do you attribute Barco's growth in digital cinema to the UScentric factors like better business model and compelling technology or a major drive from Barco itself? Cinema industry in India is unique in many ways and has a lot of local flavour, unlike elsewhere in the world. Although Hollywood is important; Bollywood and regional content run the show here. India is an important market for Barco and over the last 7 years, we have strived hard along with our cinema deployment partners to maintain a leading market share for digital cinema installations in the region. Barco is primarily an equipment manufacturer. Does it contemplate working with integration companies to push its systems, just like what is happening internationally? Yes definitely, we work very closely with our system integration partners in the respective regions. Barco prefers to focus on its core competence of being a manufacturer of state-of-the-art digital cinema solutions. Our partners/integrators add additional value to the offering and bring it to the end customer. The 2K is making a mark in India. On the other hand, some operators are still not convinced about 4K. What's Barco's strategy, given this scenario? While agreeing that 2K is getting installed more and more, we have quite a lot of 4K projectors installed already. We can see more 4K installs in the near future since 4K would get more affordable in the lamp-based models and also with the penetration of Flagship RGBLaser which is also 4k resolution. Barco's latest offering Laser Projectors and Escape is being
widely talked about. When do we see the debut in India? Our latest offering like Laser and Escape have generated a lot of interest amongst the leading cinemachains in India & we are confident that we can see laser projectors getting installed in India early 2016 and Barco Escape as well during the course of 2016. Compared to 2K and 4K projectors, how costly is laser if shipped to India in current scenario. The commercials involved with laser projectors are different since operating cost reduces drastically. The new flagship lasers are known for enhancing the customer experience and reducing the total cost of ownership. Theirextremely reliable laser lifetime & major reduction in power consumption make the commercials very attractive. We are working with our partners for a commercial positioning for the same. India is the only country which still operates E-cinema. Looking at Indian market, there are only two major leaders in digital cinema projectors. Do you find a need for both to come to a common point to make India 100% digital? With the availability of the S2K, the entry-level DC projector has become more affordable. The leaders in the DC segment have this product available in their product portfolio and E-Cinema is getting converted to D-Cinema in a phased manner in their own way. Tell us more about your authorized dealer, distributors and service centres. Barco is present in all the major Metros in India. Barco's authorised partner is also equipped with service centre and facilities with Barcocertified engineers to cover the entire geographical area in India.
November-December 2015
TM-37