MUMBAI: Digital cinema is on the rise and how. According to a recent study done by Research and Markets, there will be more than 17,000 D-cinema screens in the world by 2010. Research and Markets’ study throws light on the global market for D-cinema.

The number of D-cinema screens globally doubled in the second half of 2005 and there were 849 D-cinema screens by year end 2005. Close to 97 film titles were released globally in D-cinema standard during 2005.

While the rollout of D-cinema has begun and is currently on a small scale, it is expected to gather momentum rapidly towards full-scale rollout. This year is likely to be a year for negotiations and signature of contracts with wide-scale rollout happening from 2007.

What’s more, Hollywood will drive the market forward and the key factors in the switch to digital cinema are cost savings to distributors, the economic imperative of controlling piracy and the need to maintain the experience gap with regard to home cinema and HDTV.

On the back of the Hollywood studios releasing their technical specification for D-cinema in June 2005, there was explosive growth in the number of D-cinema screens globally during the second half of last year, with numbers doubling in a six month period.

Of the top five leading cities by number of digital screens deployed, four are in Asia and one is in the USA. North America is the leading region for D-cinema screens, followed by Asia and then Europe.

According to the study, while Christie dominates the market for D-cinema projectors in the US market, Barco dominates in Europe and Asia.