MUMBAI: Mumbai-based Scrabble Entertainment, which installs digital cinema initiative (DCI) 2K and 4K systems, plans to bring all the single screens in the country to the DCI platform.

The company wants to have 100 screens in the South. Out of this, it is targeting 50 screens in Andhra Pradesh due to the increasing demand for the DCI systems in this state by the exhibitors there.

Talking about his company’s initiative to penetrate into Tier II and Tier III cities of India and bringing the 2K, 4K and 3D revolution to the masses of the country, Scrabble Entertainment CEO Ranjit Thakur said, “We have received a great response from the Southern market and especially in Andhra Pradesh wherein the exhibitors have been proactively showing interest in this DCI technology.”

According to Thakur, there are as many as 12000–18000 screens in India and only 35-45 per cent of these screens have adapted to digital platforms till date. The global market is also noticing a great change in the industry wherein it is expected that Hollywood physical print will not be available to the theatres by 2013 and Bollywood physical print will be obsolete by 2015 – 2016.

In another move to focus more and more on the Southern market, Scrabble has partnered with Shree Padmanabha Theatre in Kerala and is in the process of closing deals with some of the known exhibitors in this region by the end of this year.

The company intends to convert all the multiplex screens to DCI compliant digital screens which will enable exhibitors to showcase alternate and 3D content, enabling them to maximise their revenues with flexible advertisement models.

There is substantial growth potential for this DCI platform being adopted by the exhibitors this year because there is an increase in the release of 3D Hollywood and Bollywood movies this year. Spider-Man 4, Titanic 2, Iron Man 3, Raaz 3 and Dangerous Ishq are some of the films that are set for release in the year.