Digital cinema expert Barco announced that it has recently closed a deal with integrator Quanta DGT to supply 500 digital cinema projectors to theaters 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, Cinematográfica Araujo – and dozens of small exhibitor groups have chosen to go digital with Barco digital cinema projectors.

While Brazil is the world’s tenth most important cinema market in admissions, the digitization percentage has been quite low for a long time: only around 38% of the 2,500 screens were digitized by the end of 2013. Recent public policies encouraging exhibitors to digitize their screens, including the VPF program, are taking hold and over 70% of the country’s exhibitors have already joined the program. Many of them rely on the support of system integrator Quanta DGT who, together with global digital cinema leader 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. In September, more than 300 units will be transported to Brazil. Local Barco Service Partners will install the projectors commencing in September. By the end of the year, all 500 screens should be digital.