Russia gets first d-cinema mastering install

Russia has become the latest country to acquire digital cinema mastering capability, courtesy of Doremi of course. It thus joins the growing band of territories and companies that can offer 'DCI-grade' mastering for domestic titles , including France (Eclair), UK (Deluxe/CFX), Germany (Bewegte Bilder) and Norway (BUG/Unique). It's also not just any Russian company, the press release tells us:

The first Digital Cinema mastering station in Russia has been installed as a part of the national Digital Rollout programme developed by the Head Data-Computing Centre (GIVC) of the Federal Agency of Culture and Cinematography and the ComSat company, with the support of the Russian Ministry of Culture.

This installation means that now, not only foreign, but also national films can be projected onto digital screens with DCI-rated image quality. Coming only a few months after the opening of the first digital cinema in Saint Petersburg, this installation is a big step towards a full-scale digital rollout in Russia.

Russia is also only one of a growing number of emerging markets that could see faster digital cinema roll-out than several 'Old Europe' countries, to use Donald Rumsfeld's memorable description of France et al.