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The Ultimate Home Cinema

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Piracy is slowly killing cinema. That isn't an opinion, it's a fact. Torrent sites such as the Pirate Bay have made it so simple to download recent cinematic releases and enjoy them in the comfort of your own home, that even the technologically illiterate could figure it out given a spare afternoon. Hollywood tried to strike back at the tail end of the noughties by making a big deal out of 3D, but that barely stemmed the tide, and now, with faster broadband speeds and better home hardware becoming more and more affordable by the day, it would appear that the halcyon days of the multiplex are behind us.

PRIMA is a system that allows (very rich) cinephiles to catch the latest cinematic releases on their own home cinema systems for a cool $35,000

I for one lament the death of the traditional cinema. Whilst the idea of paying a tenner a piece to scoff overpriced nachos and watered down Pepsi in a crowded velour-decked hovel surrounded by texters, talkers and coughers might rub certain people up the wrong way, I've always been able to see the magic behind the experience of sharing a movie with a room full of strangers. Netflix is awfully convenient, and it's true that TV is (by and large) overtaking cinema as the most entertaining and rewarding visual art form, but there's a certain something about a REAL big screen experience that just can't be equalled. PRIMA Cinema knows this, but is also adamant that we can have it both ways. If we have a spare £25,000+ to hand that is.

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PRIMA is a system that allows (very rich) cinephiles to catch the latest cinematic releases on their own home cinema systems for a cool $35,000, with an extra $500 per 24-hour rental and a requirement to pre-buy 10 movies from the start, bringing the total to a sobering $40,000! Now, before you balk at the price (difficult I know), pause for a minute to contemplate exactly what this system represents. Whilst major Hollywood studios are far from eager for this sort of service to become the norm, it does show that they are at least willing to compromise.

The system essentially works in a similar manner to Netflix, only it specifically features brand new releases

The bulky rack-mount system is a true technological marvel. But then for the price you'd surely expect nothing less right? It uses a biometric thumbprint scanner to make sure that only authorised users can rent a movie through the system, with the surprisingly elegant system designed by DesignworksUSA, the contract design arm of BMW. Indeed, the whole system is remarkably attractive, but then billionaires generally won't stand for shoddy looking merchandise. The box outputs via dual HDMI outputs and contains a dual gigabit Ethernet connection, dual power supplies and an immensely powerful RAID 5 array to store all the movies.

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The system essentially works in a similar manner to Netflix, only it specifically features brand new releases. Movies are also not streamed, but downloaded ahead of time. One area in which the system falls a bit behind the times however is in terms of resolution. Whilst we might very well be on the cusp of the 4K revolution, PRIMA doesn't support the standard yet. It's films are screened in the highest possible 10-bit, 1080p resolution, with each download coming in at around 40GB. The box also automatically downloads all available films through a business quality broadband connection, so there is no wait time. If you want to watch a film you simply purchase it and you're ready to go. It's an incredibly elegant system. But again, for the price, would you expect anything less? All movies are also tied to each individual user's account, with a unique watermark attached to each movie. The box is even equipped with bespoke accelerometers, which stop it working if the box is moved.

The system uses a biometric thumbprint scanner to make sure that only authorised users can rent a movie through it

Shawn Yeager, PRIMA's co-founder and CEO, explains that the device is essentially foolproof. He said there is “No single point of failure for anything on this device,” and “If anything goes wrong, it’s going to really have to go wrong before it upsets your client.” Yeager also explains that airtight security and redundancy aren’t the only hoops that they have to jump through. The company actually encodes all the films itself, and it needs artistic sign-off on those encodings. He explains; “We actually got Insurgent a week before it was released, but the problem was that the director hadn’t signed off on the colour space conversion. Unless the director signs off on the colour space conversion, you can’t do it. So the amount of stuff you have to go through is remarkable.” Oh well, nothing worth having comes easy right?

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Of course, considering the sheer expense of the system, it's not like it poses any significant threat to the local movie house. At least not yet. According to Yeager, however, the rich and famous have already jumped on to the bandwagon with both feet. So much so, in fact, that the company are struggling to keep up with demand! What are your thoughts on the PRIMA Cinema system? Does it sound like a dream come true? A sign of things to come? Or yet another frivolous way for the 1% to show off? Sound off below!

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Benjamin Hiorns is a freelance writer, struggling musician and film buff from Kidderminster in the UK. He's not ready to give up on his local cinema just yet, but if anyone feels like sending him a PRIMA system he certainly wouldn't complain.

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