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IMAX will build your home theater for a mere $400,000
For anyone tired of paying up for 3D IMAX movie tickets, the company is now offering in-home, high-definition, floor-to-ceiling, wall-to-wall, officially calibrated IMAX theater systems. All you need to bring is about half a million dollars and a spare wing of your palace to install it in.
IMAX buys stake in Prima Cinema, promises higher-quality theatrical releases in your mansion
Prima Cinema's same-day-as-theaters movie player may be a niche device, but it's catching the eye of some big companies. IMAX has just bought a stake in Prima in return for both a Chinese distribution exclusive as well as a technology deal. The arrangement will let IMAX use the know-how from the Prima Cinema Player in its Private Theatre systems, giving the wealthy a chance to watch downloadable, IMAX-quality theatrical releases at home. Other platforms might come in the future, according to the company. There's no word on just when the integration will take effect, but we're sure that well-off movie buffs can't wait.
$35,000 Prima Cinema Player brings movies home as soon as they hit theaters (eyes-on)
Ready to escape the usual crowd at the movie theater and host your own premieres at home? Prima Cinema has an answer, with the minor requirement of $35,000 (and a few other details) to get your home theater ready for first-run movies. Just as we'd heard when it first popped up a couple of years ago, that large setup fee buys the Cinema Player, a rack-mountable box loaded with a 2TB hard drive and enough DRM to keep the studios happy, plus a wired fingerprint reader used to ensure the owner's identity. Movies download automatically to its hard drive in the background so they're already there when the owner chooses to unlock them for viewing. That privilege costs $500 ($600 for 3D), good for one showing within 24 hours. Check after the break for more of our impressions after a quick preview at Prima's CEDIA 2013 booth, then prep your black card for the pricey purchase.
Prima Cinema plans to offer $500 first-run movie downloads, with a mere $20k setup fee
To achieve balance in all things, a new startup called Prima Cinema apparently figures while the proletariat are rejoicing over Netflix all you can eat $7.99 streaming and Redbox $1 rentals, there's room at the high end and will offer a $20,000 digital delivery system to bring home first-run movies as soon as they come to theaters in theaters for $500 a pop. Beyond simply achieving the goal of making proposed $20-30 movie VODs on cable seem downright reasonable, The Wall Street Journal reports the company figures it can work this system into as many as 250,000 homes in the next five years. The idea is to deliver these flicks beyond the lucky few who currently receive copies for private screening to people whose home theaters make our Engadget HD Flickr group look low-rent, although theater industry insiders have already pointed out the increased risk of piracy. We're not sure exactly what hardware that initial $20k buys, but at those prices we'll probably still be looking at TS and cam rips for most bootlegged flicks after this service launches next year.
