Litchfield drive-in converting to digital

The historic SkyView Drive-In theater along old Route 66 in Litchfield, Ill., soon will convert from 35mm film to a digital format, according to Sonic Equipment Co., a cinema equipment company that’s been hired to do the work.

This is only the third drive-in where the company has switched it to digital. The other two are in Texas, not near Route 66. Sonic Equipment is based in Iola, Kan., and has converted hundreds of movie screens to digital all over the country.

There are only two other drive-in theaters on or near Route 66 still operating. One is the historic 66 Drive-In in Carthage, Mo., and the other is the Route 66 Drive-In in Springfield, Ill. The Admiral Twin Drive-In in Tulsa is closed after a fire destroyed its double screen, but it is scheduled to reopen in 2012.

Ron Hageman, installation supervisor at Sonic Equipment, says digital provides viewers a sharper picture on the screen, plus the format won’t get scratched or damaged like film.

The cost of converting a cinema to digital ranges from $60,000 to $100,000, Hageman says. He said about 50 percent of screens in the U.S. already have made the switchover, and that number will continue to rise.

Hageman said SkyView will get movies each week with a hard drive shipped to the premises. But he said the technology exists now where a theater operator can start to download a movie by satellite or high-speed Internet and project it on a screen within 10 to 20 minutes.

The implications of this new technology could be staggering. I foresee a day when independent cinemas could show a variety of films on the same screen in one day. One could screen the current black-and-white film “The Artist,” then 1942’s “Casablanca” on the next showing. Instead of a blizzard of previews, movie houses could instead show a 22-minute episode of “Cheers” or “I Love Lucy” before the main feature.

The current setup with film makes such a smorgasbord of entertainment extremely difficult or impossible. I hold no doubts the digital conversion will be difficult for many small-town or independent cinemas, and a number of them will perish. But this format also could be a marvelous opportunity for creative programmers.

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