Example: Amusement facility
T-Joy Co., Ltd
Address:
Honkan 5F, Sanko Building,
4-10-5 Ginza, Chuo-Ku, Tokyo 104-0061 Japan
Tel: 03-3248-8172
URL: http://www.t-joy.net/
Tel: 03-3248-8172
URL: http://www.t-joy.net/
T-Joy Co., Ltd., was established in 2000 in collaboration with Toei Company and its group companies, major production companies and other companies having the potential to shift their core business to a new visual business. In order to respond to the ever-changing cinema promotion system, T-Joy plans and operates cinema complexes in and out of town. T-Joy is a leader in the digital cinema industry. They are also a distributor of programs through satellites for a variety of different kinds of events, such as relay broadcasts of music concerts. The company is expanding business activities into a variety of different fields.
(← External view of Shinjuku Wald 9)
T-Joy Co., Ltd., opened Shinjuku Wald 9 on the former Shinjuku Toei site at Shinjuku 3-Chome in February, 2007. This is the first Japanese cinema complex fully equipped with digital cinema where digital projectors are employed for all screens (9 screens, 1842 seats). All commercial films and trailers are projected in digital hi-vision. Furthermore, two theatres are equipped with Dolby 3D Digital Cinema systems, so that customers can enjoy 3D images with state-of-the-art technology and realistic non-compressed digital sound. Broadcastings of theatricals, and sports events, and features of digital cinema are displayed frequently. As part of its superior customer service, T-Joy offers KINEZO, a ubiquitous online reservation system; Cine-matinee, an off-time discount service applied every weekday; and the Wald Midnight Show, showing movies late every night. Wald 9 is a prominent and popular public amusement spot in Tokyo.
Interview
We interviewed T-Joy Co., Ltd., about how it decided to employ the NC2500S and NC800C DLPCinema projectors, and what are their business plans for the future.
- Q.We understand that your company plays an innovative role in the digital cinema industry. Please describe your activities in detail.
- A.We now have 14 cinema complexes for a total of 132 screens. We opened the world’s first theatre supporting digital image distribution at T-Joy Higashi-Hiroshima in 2000. Since then, we have actively invested in the construction of state-of-the-art environments for showing movies to lead the domestic and overseas industries on a commercial basis. In November 2007, we introduced the Japan’s first Dolby 3D Digital Cinema system. As of November 2007, we are the only company in Japan that consistently provides digital cinema theatre meeting Hollywood DCI standards at all sites. We are confident in our innovative role in cinema complex industry by actually providing profit making digital cinema.
- Q.What are the advantages of digital cinema?
- A.Digital cinema has three major advantages: from the distributor’s viewpoint, the significant cost reduction in distribution (costs of films, developing, carriages, etc.); from that of customers, undeteriorated movies with stable quality, and from the promoter’s perspective, flexible scheduling of programs (including ODS*) that allows satellite feeds of theatricals, sports events, martial arts, and relay broadcasts of live music to each theatre without the limitations of the film medium. Allowing to promote a variety of entertainment shows.
- Q.What are the reactions of customers who have viewed digital cinema?
- A.They go home very satisfied. The high quality images and sounds that are unique to digital cinema and superior to those of conventional film showings, and the ODSs they desire, are the major reasons for their satisfaction. Films remain to be the mainstream for cinemas; however, as the digital cinema and ODS contents increases, the customer can enjoy movies and high quality images and sound anytime they want, for with greater satisfaction. We would like to urge [or “We recommend”] those who have never seen digital cinema or movies in theatres to give digital cinema a try.
- Q.Shinjuku Wald 9 is the first cinema complex entirely supporting digital cinema in Japan. Please tell us the reason that you chose the NC2500S and NC800C DLPCinema projectors for all the 9 cinemas.
A.We comprehensively studied and evaluated future prospects, costs, and the maintenance and support system. This included the performance of the NC2500S and the NC800C products, currently being operated in the projector room, as well as products from various other manufacturers. As a result of this evaluation, we selected products from NEC Display Solutions for their performance and the range of models. Another reason for choosing NEC Display Solutions was that we felt the company understood most any the risks of introducing digital cinema to all screens, and they would agree and collaborate with our digital cinema promotion philosophy. We expect to be benefited from advanced technologies and accumulated know-how of NEC Display Solutions in future digitalization in this industry.
- Q.What do you expect from DLPCinema projectors in future?
- A.The initial investment in digital projectors costs about 2 to 3 times more than conventional film projectors. Although, the costs have been reduced due to the competition among manufacturers and the mass production of equipment from those of several years ago. However, the situation is still severe for promoters, and we expect further reductions in costs. As it is assumed that everything, including projectors, will be networked in future with an overall digitalization, we expect the stability and operability of the projector to be improved as well.
- Q.Please tell us your plans for future evolution.
- A.Shinjuku Wald 9 is an example of the evolved style of the cinema complex; the theatres can show not only digital cinema but also entertainment ranging across theatricals, music, and sports events; “Geki-Cine”, theatrical productions in movie theatres, public viewing including relay broadcasts of martial arts are just a few of these applications. We intend to work continuously to provide new services in cinema to the customer by bearing the costs and risks to introduce new things. We are not a slave to ready-made ideas, but promote progress from the cinema complex to the entertainment complex and will act as a leader in the industry.
- Thank you for sharing your time.
* ODS: Other Digital Stuff
