Overview
The media block is an important part of a digital cinema system.The media block decrypts and decodes the feature-film (Hollywood) content and delivers it to the projector in a useable format. Media blocks also manage the Key Delivery Messages (KDMs) – the decryption keys used to unlock the feature-film content at show time.
What makes a great media block?
Here are the features to look for in a media block:
- Future-proofed – There will be more High Frame Rate (HFR) and 4K content produced in the future. You want a media block that can handle the bandwidth requirements of these new formats.
- Reliability – A media block – especially an integrated media block – should work seamlessly with the digital cinema projector. You need to consider the reliability of your total digital cinema system, not only the projector or media block’s reliability.
- DCI compliance – Your media block should be DCI compliant for all content formats and resolutions.
- Backed by the right company – Choose a media block vendor that is committed to supporting digital cinema now, and in the future, even after all the digital conversions are done.
Christie’s Integrated Media Block
Christie® has created its own integrated media block (IMB). The Christie IMB is a concise, all-in-one solution that will have you showing picture-perfect feature films for years to come.
The Christie IMB was made for our 2K and 4K Christie Solaria Series 2 digital cinema projectors – and they work brilliantly together! The Christie Solaria Series projectors include:
Designed to give you the best performance and reliability, the Christie IMB supports Christie Previsto™ HFR and 4K capabilities.
Why choose a Christie IMB?
The Christie IMB is built for flexible, powerful performance. It:
- produces a more reliable projection system because it was built to complement the projector’s software, thermals, vibrations and internal power availability
- is easily upgradable to provide HFR and 4K support
- is fully DCI compliant
uses commodity storage devices, which reduces cost, downtime due to maintenance, and provides more flexibility in the system design
- provides streaming MPEG2/H.264 support for advertising and alternative content from the attached commodity storage device
- has an intuitive Screen Management System (SMS) for managing content at the screen level
- integrates with the Christie Avias-TMS™ for theater-level content management
- delivers safe and fully-tested software upgrades
- has multiple failover options for increased reliability and performance, and
- is backed by a dedicated, technical support team.
Christie has more than 80 years of experience working with exhibitors. We’ll be around to provide support for the lifetime of the Christie IMB.
Taking the next step
Christie digital cinema solutions are available through a worldwide network of authorized dealers and partners. Contact us or your nearest dealer today to get started.