One of SA`s largest independent IT solutions providers is playing an integral role in the delivery of high quality cinema advertising to movie houses around SA.
First Technology is the primary supplier and partner for the hardware equipment used by Spectrum Visual Network Solutions (VNS) - a company which has developed a complete end-to-end solution for the creation and play-out of digitised commercials in cinemas and other electronic media.
According to Terry Sack, account manager at First Technology, the solution has been implemented in 22 Ster-Kinekor and Nu Metro cinemas countrywide as well as four IMAX theatres in SA. A further 30 cinemas are currently being equipped to handle digital adverts and by end-2003, the number is expected to rise to over 80.
Spectrum VNS, which specialises in the creation, editing, distribution and play out of digital media content, developed the solution utilising locally designed and developed software, custom built hardware, and satellite transmission to distribute content - cinema advertisements - to the projection rooms of movie houses.
Ronald Henry, technical director at Spectrum VNS, explains that the digital solution is considerably less expensive than the traditional method of distributing movie ads on 16mm film - "about one-tenth of the cost". In addition, it ensures that ad quality remains consistently high.
"Traditionally, projectionists receive a 35mm master copy of the advert and an ad play list which changes each week. They have to manually cut and splice the different ads together into the play list order. During the 10 weeks that the ad is usually flighted, it undergoes significant physical abuse and the quality degenerates.
"So Cinemark, which has the exclusive rights to most cinema advertising in SA, looked around for an alternative - and, with First Technology`s assistance, we found it," he adds.
Spectrum VNS transfers commercials onto its system which digitises and then compresses them to reduce the size of each file. The ads are then distributed using satellite directly to a server in the projection rooms at the cinemas. The company`s proprietary Fish suite of software applications schedules and broadcasts the digital commercials to cinemas in preparation for play out.
"Our Octopus broadcast server acts as a central media content hub which distributes, controls and tracks advertising material which is being screened at remote locations. In addition to the distribution of media, it schedules playlists over many different communications networks, including IP over Satellite (synchronous and asynchronous).
"The system is simple to use. All the projectionist does is press the play button: the ads are screened in the correct order - no cutting or splicing required. In addition, for the first time, advertisers are assured that their advertisement is actually screened when scheduled and its impact is not reduced due to poor quality," Henry concludes.
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First Technology is one of SA`s largest, independent IT solutions providers, offering customers solutions and services that maximise business productivity, reduce the risk associated with deploying new technologies and minimise the total cost of IT ownership. The company has fully-fledged branches in every major business node across SA and maintains one of the largest teams of highly skilled technical personnel in the country.
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