AAM Announces Commercial Phase of Digital Cinema Network Software

September 25, 2009

Source: Arts Alliance Media

Arts Alliance Media (AAM) announced that its Digital Cinema Network Software (DCNS) is ready for commercial deployment.

The software suite, designed to efficiently manage the deployment and operation of digital cinema projection systems, will be showcased at the Fédération Nationale des Cinémas Français Congress (FNCF) in Deauville, France, from 28th September to 1st October, 2009. The
software, built by AAM’s in-house development team, has been trialled over the past 6 months at selected sites of various major exhibitors around the world.

From the control and tracking of hardware and software across a circuit, central control of content and playout of each screen, circuit wide management reporting of playout logs and KDM activity, through to fault monitoring and Virtual Print Fee (VPF) calculation and reporting, the AAM
DCNS provides everything an exhibitor needs to run a digital circuit, no matter how large or small.

The AAM Digital Cinema Network Software is an open, modular system and manufacturer agnostic. The software suite is available to exhibitors as a complete package, or as individual components, all of which are designed to interface seamlessly with other systems in the complex, such as point of sale or advertising delivery software.

Matt Sullivan, AAM’s Vice President of Technical Development, commented “AAM is extremely focused on delivering smart connective software that is vital to exhibitors running their digital screens as an efficient and integrated network. Our years of experience and the great feedback from the exhibitors who have been trialling our system means that our software suite now provides the best functionality and support to service their circuits. DCNS is designed to make the exhibitors’ life as easy as possible.”

“We are delighted to commercially launch our software technology into the marketplace, and believe that this is a solution that will help any exhibitor realise the full potential of digital cinema”, said Howard Kiedaisch, AAM’s Chief Executive Officer, adding that “This software suite is the perfect complement to our existing digital cinema offering, from our VPF and equipment services through to our satellite delivery capability. AAM now has
the ability to truly service the end-to-end digital cinema process.”

Some of the key features of the AAM DCNS are:

Hardware and software asset management

· Tracks the location of digital cinema projectors and servers, as well as their configuration, software and firmware versions, upgrades and repairs.
· The software can also retrieve much of this information remotely from each installed digital cinema system (for example: serial number and software versions), providing real-time synchronisation of the asset database with assets in the cinemas, without the need for manual intervention.

Monitoring

· Robust monitoring solution, tailored to digital cinema operations, which provides real-time fault and error reporting of equipment and software in the field. This powers the backbone of a digital cinema Network Operations Centre (NOC), meaning that AAM can detect and often proactively repair any faults without interference in the cinema’s schedule.

Theatre Management System

· Web-based solution that centrally manages content movement, scheduling and playout within a complex.
· Application is interoperable; works with different servers from multiple suppliers within a complex, and can be accessed anywhere within a cinema site, or remotely if necessary. AAM TMS is an open platform, which allows third parties to easily construct additional services.

Circuit-wide Management & Reporting

· Back office package of centralised services operates across an exhibitor’s entire circuit in real-time.
· Gathers playout logs from every screen in a circuit, as well as archiving and analysis from a single location.
· Enables playlists to be created and distributed direct to digital cinema projection servers.
· Security key (KDM) management; KDM expiry reporting and distribution of keys from a central location.
· Allows exhibitor to collate and distribute feature films, advertising and trailers and monitor real-time screen activity, including current playout status of each screen.

VPF reporting

· Full range of software to manage the reporting and reconciliation of VPF data.
· Includes full playout and booking reporting as well as CPL tracking services.

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