NATO Releases Digital Cinema System Requirements v2.0

The National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO) issued today a revised Digital Cinema System Requirements document (version 2.0). The requirements are a product of a group of committed NATO member company volunteers, working in conjunction with NATO's Digital Cinema Consultant Michael Karagosian.

The first revision to the now 2-year-old NATO Digital Cinema System Requirements, version 2.0 is targeted to standards committees, product manufacturers, and service providers in the digital cinema supply chain. NATO's System Requirements provides important direction for areas not covered in the DCI (Digital Cinema Initiative) spec.

These include:
- Operational requirements
- Maintenance operations
- Workflow requirements
- System requirements for support of the blind, deaf, and hard-of-hearing.

A fresh review of the entire document was conducted, deleting some requirements no longer needed, and expanding or creating new section topics.

Among the highlights:
- Exhibitor-driven universal theatre identification scheme introduced.
- Establishes the requirement for a commodity digital cinema server.
- New requirement for closed caption support.
- Workflow automation requirements introduced.
- TMS (Theater Management System) described in terms of 3 service functions, with detailed roles for each service.
- New requirements for exhibitor network security.

According to NATO digital cinema consultant, Michael Karagosian, “The document describes new areas where additional standards work is needed. Completion and implementation of in-theatre standards are important next steps in the development of digital cinema, and NATO will continue to actively pursue these goals.”

NATO President & CEO John Fithian added, "I applaud the dedication of these men and women to sensible digital cinema operations, and I encourage theater owners to make appropriate use of these requirements in their equipment purchasing policies.”

Source: DCinemaToday