"It just gives, suddenly takes what is, especially in video, was a very flat picture and gives it the illusion of depth."
Altman tells us the image improvement is striking enough that it could convince reluctant directors... such as himself... to shoot in digital instead of on film. The director believes with more homes adding big screens and high definition digital technology... .it will widen the audiences for films that aren't always tailored for the mass Cineplex crowd...
"Maybe we can now leave the theatres for these movies that get all these 14 year old boys in so they can hoot and holler. And then you can have Spider-Man and those things. I think the experience is dwindling for adults. In the first place, they can't keep the material in the cinemas long enough."
We should note that Michael Altman, the director's son who is also an industry veteran, is now president of Darbee Labs. About where the technology will go from here, CEO Paul Darbee tells us... .
"Well, we hope that it goes everywhere. It's applicable to any image that is at some point in its life, in digital form."
Universal is the first to use it with Gosford Park, but the company is talking to virtually all of the major studios. For consumers... Darbee says, it doesn't add anything to the cost of the DVD. Bloomberg Boot Camp, I'm Fred Fishkin.