The movie 'Cars' premiered at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Credit: AP

Lighting up Lowe's, one tiny mirror at a time

DLP calls attention to digital display unit with premiere of Cars

For those who did not attend the world premiere of the Disney/Pixar Studios movie Cars last weekend at Lowe's Motor Speedway, you missed it.

The movie itself was fantastic, and the magnitude of the stars who came to Concord, N.C. on a wet and threatening Friday -- Paul Newman, Owen Wilson, Cheech Marin, Brad Paisley, the incomparable Chuck Berry and Larry the Cable Guy among them -- was stunning.

The movie was displayed on the hoods of some cars. Credit: Autostock

But the real star of the show? The 12 DLP Cinema® projectors and the four 115-foot custom-built movie screens took that award, hands-down.

DLP, a Texas Instruments product, is a digital display technology that uses up to 2.2 million tiny mirrors in each chip. The mirrors switch at very high speed, which enables the system to create high-resolution, full-color images for large-screen televisions and projectors in a variety of applications.

DLP is leveraging its involvement with NASCAR -- the company sponsors the No. 96 DLP HDTV Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS from Hall of Fame Racing's stables -- and its part in the presentation of the world-wide premiere of the long-awaited Cars movie to call attention to its technology.

"This premiere marks a major leap forward into the digital theatrical age," said Nancy Fares, the business manager for DLP Cinema Products. "The transition of the industry to digital projection has reached the tipping point this year, and DLP Cinema technology has been a major contributor to the technology advancement and readiness of digital cinema."

In other words, DLP is the coming thing, and it's time to let everyone know about it.

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"We are pleased to use DLP Cinema technology to bring Cars to the screen in a big way," said Doug Darrow, Brand & Marketing Manager. "As a sponsor of Hall of Fame, we couldn't be more excited that we can showcase our digital cinema technology to the NASCAR fans."

Digital cinema, whether in movie theaters or in the living rooms of NASCAR fans the world over, is here. The technology was introduced in 1996, and more than nine million DLP subsystems have been shipped since then.

When you think about how accessible HDTV and its variations have become of late, the fact that DLP has landed with both feet in NASCAR's pond is a no-brainer.

Pixar, which has produced such classics as Toy Story (and Toy Story 2), Finding Nemo and The Incredibles, chose the NASCAR-themed Cars as its next product and at the same time chose DLP Cinema projection units for the world premiere.

Larry the Cable Guy was one of the celebrities on hand for the premiere. Credit: Autostock

Twelve DLP Cinema® projectors -- from Barco, Christie and NEC -- were used for the showing, which was the largest delivery of a movie in history in terms of square footage. The movie was shown to 35,000 fans in Turn 2 at Lowe's Motor Speedway, making it the first multi-screen outdoor projection event in history.

Part of the technology's appeal is the color. DLP Cinema projectors crank it out at the rate of 35 trillion distinct colors, and the projectors throw a combined 240,000 lumens at the screen as well.

For reference, that's 686 times the normal output of a 60-watt light bulb.

The technology delivered a nearly flawless presentation on the four huge screens. A racetrack is never completely dark, and Lowe's is no exception. But the show -- outdoors in the open air -- was just like watching it at the local theater.

The combined effect is such that the movie hits the screen with color, contrast and brightness advantages over non-digital media.

	DLP sponsors the No. 96 car in the Cup Series. Credit: Autostock
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One other interesting aspect of the production, seen purely from the Diamond Terrace seats, was the sound. There was hardly any difference, other than ambient sound from the surrounding multitude of campers at the track, in seeing it at Lowe's and seeing it at Loews (the movie theater chain).

It's essentially the same thing in a way, because 75 of the world's top projection and display manufacturers design, manufacture and market products based on DLP technology.

DLP Cinema projectors have been showing movies in theatres since 1999, helping realize the advancement of digital cinema. In 2006, the DLP Cinema screen count has more than tripled to 1,400 worldwide, with tens of thousands of additional theatres announced to convert in the next few years.

Disney through its Buena Vista Distribution arm has been a pioneer of digital cinema since its inception, first releasing Tarzan for digital distribution in July 1999, and releasing more than 43 more in digital in the last seven years, including such hits as Toy Story 2, Monsters Inc, Signs, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles and Pirates of the Caribbean.

Texas Instruments Inc. provides innovative DSP and analog technologies for real world signal processing requirements. In addition to Semiconductor, the company includes the Educational & Productivity Solutions business. TI is headquartered in Dallas, and has manufacturing, design or sales operations in more than 25 countries.