Digital cinema company Barco recently closed a deal with integrator Quanta DGT to supply 500 digital cinema projectors to theatres in Brazil through a Virtual Print Fee (VPF) financing model.

Many of the largest cinema exhibitors – Cinesystem, GNC, Cine Sercla, CineShow, CineArt, AFA Cinemas, PlayArte, Arcoplex, Cinematografica Araujo – and dozens of small exhibitor groups have chosen to go digital with Barco digital cinema projectors.

While Brazil is the world’s tenth highest grossing cinema market in admissions, the digitisation percentage has been quite low for a long time. About 38% of the 2 500 screens were digitised by the end of 2013. Recent public policies encouraging exhibitors to digitise their screens, including the VPF program, are taking hold and over 70% of the country’s exhibitors have already joined the programme. Many of them rely on the support of system integrator Quanta DGT who, together with global Arts Alliance Media have VPF agreements with the Hollywood studios to fund the rollout of digital cinema across Latin America.

500 units by year-end

“We give the exhibitors full flexibility regarding the digital cinema equipment they want to use,’ says Tieres Tavares, CEO of Quanta DGT. “So they can choose the projectors and servers that best meet their needs.’ As the major cinemas chose Barco projectors, Quanta DGT and Barco struck a deal for the delivery of 500 projectors, the first of which were shipped in July 2014. In September 2014, another 300 units will be transported to Brazil. Local [Brazil] Barco Service Partners will install the projectors when they arrive, and by the end of the year, all 500 screens will be digital.