Thomson Watermarking for Digital Cinema

Digital cinema server makers embed Thomson watermarking - Hardware - www.itnews.com.au

Excerpts:

Digital cinema server manufacturers are embedding forensic watermarking technology from Thomson to protect movies shown in theaters from being pirated.

Servers from Doremi Labs have already begun shipping with Thomson's NexGuard technology, while GDC, QuVis and Tamedia are finalising the processes.

The technology embeds date, time and place of projection into the digital movie image and soundtrack as the movie projects on the theater screen. The information is picked up by the camcorder trying to record the movie, said Pascal Marie, Thomson's vice president for Content Security.

QuVIS vice president of engineering Michael Paulson says the company evaluated a few watermark technologies, including Philips, and thought Thomson's matched their architecture best. "We had to modify the audio portion or the server," he said.

Thomson requires a specific audio digital signal processor, so QuVIS created a new audio module in the server that will install into movie theaters.