4-page Case Study - Posted 3/1/2007

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Qube Cinema Inc.

Digital Cinema Server Ushers in Next Generation of Movie Technology Worldwide

Market adoption of digital cinema technology has been slow, especially for movie theaters, which have very stringent requirements for security and reliability. Qube Cinema needed to solve those problems as it developed its next-generation digital cinema server. The company considered using Linux as the operating system, but ultimately rejected the open source software because it lacked key functionality, including a robust streaming media architecture and broad catalogue of device drivers. By choosing Microsoft Windows XP Embedded, Qube Cinema was able to select just the required operating system components, resulting in a secure and reliable operating system. Qube Cinema was also able to leverage key Microsoft technologies, such as Microsoft DirectShow and the .NET Framework. Thanks to the new Qube XP Digital Cinema Server, digital cinema may be coming soon to a theater near you.

Situation

Qube XP Digital Server

While digital cinema offers a high-quality image, unaffected by repeated showings, as well as numerous other benefits for filmmakers and distributors, commercial theaters have not yet embraced digital technology. First-generation products often had issues with reliability, and more than once a computer glitch caused a screen to go completely dark. Theater owners and operators had to contend with other critical business issues, including security, ease of use for relatively non-technical personnel, and both initial cost and long-term expenses. 

A new generation of digital cinema technology has been developed to solve these problems – namely, the Qube XP Digital Cinema Server. With global customers like Xtreme Cinemas (Czech Republic), E-City Digital Cinemas (India), and Ascent Media (USA), Qube Cinema has developed an entire suite of products that enable the practical, commercially viable, end-to-end implementation of Digital Cinema.

The Qube product line includes solutions for the mastering, distribution, and exhibition of digital films. A digital cinema server/player is the key device for theatrical exhibition. This device sits in a projection booth, where it receives, stores, and plays digital films. Four years ago, with interest in digital cinema running high, Qube Cinema decided to port their digital cinema server to an embedded operating system and launch it the following year at ShoWest 2004 in Las Vegas, one the largest industry gatherings for motion picture exhibitors. Qube Cinema developers had just a few months to choose the best operating system and customize it.

Qube Cinema gave serious consideration to the Linux operating system. Several of Qube Cinema’s competitors use variants of Linux, and many of Hollywood’s post-production houses use equipment that runs on Linux. But the developers at Qube Cinema had serious reservations about using the Linux operating system to meet the growing digital cinema industry’s critical demand for a highly secure and reliable server.

“More components mean more loopholes that hackers and viruses can attack, and Linux didn’t give us very much flexibility for reducing the component count,” explains Rajesh Ramachandran, President and Chief Technology Officer, Qube Cinema. “Because the digital cinema servers are networked and the movies stored on them are so valuable, our customers place a high priority on security. Linux is often perceived as more secure than Windows because it is not as widespread, so attacks are not highly publicized. I truly believe that attacks on Linux would be much greater if the operating system were as widely deployed as Windows.”

Solution

Using the .NET platform programming model and connectivity, we can easily tie into back-office systems running on Microsoft technology. We can also build in connectivity features that let someone control the digital cinema server remotely and securely over a network. Rajesh Ramachandran President and Chief Technology Officer Qube Cinema

“We decided to take advantage of our parent company’s expertise in providing non-linear editing solutions and digital audio workstations on the Windows platform,” explains Ramachandran. “The company’s engineers in India have the knowledge and skills to manage Windows systems and guarantee uptime, and are highly skilled in Windows development tools.”

Qube Cinema opted for the power, familiarity, and reliability of Windows® XP Embedded. Windows XP Embedded delivered a rich set of componentized embedded operating system technologies, and specific embedded enabling features that allowed Qube Cinema to tailor the operating system image to its headless device.

Using the tools found in Windows Embedded Studio, including Target Analyzer and Target Designer, the developers at Qube Cinema took approximately one month to customize the Windows XP Embedded operating system image. “We were surprised at how quickly we could convert our existing device from Windows XP Professional to Windows XP Embedded,” says Ramachandran.

By using the Windows platform, the developers were also able to leverage other key Microsoft technologies. For example, Microsoft DirectShow® delivers a flexible core media architecture that can work with multiple formats of picture, sound, subtitling, and metadata files stored on local and shared central storage systems.

The Qube XP Digital Cinema Server was successfully delivered in time for the industry tradeshow in Las Vegas, where it was greeted with enthusiasm by theatrical exhibitors. Today, there are nearly 300 commercial deployments of Qube XP Digital Cinema Servers across Asia, Europe, and North America.

The final device is standards-based and designed for interoperability as laid out in the Digital Cinema System Specification 1.0 developed by Digital Cinema Initiatives, LLC (DCI). Created in 2002, DCI is a joint venture of the six major Hollywood studios to establish and document voluntary specifications for an open architecture for digital cinema. Qube utilizes DCI-specified MXF containers with 128-bit AES encryption for media, XML for packaging metadata, and 2048-bit RSA encryption for delivering encryption keys. In addition to supporting DCI JPEG2000 at 250 Mbits/sec, the base system also handles high bit-rate MPEG-2 pictures and VC-1 (Windows Media Video 9), and is expandable with additional software codecs.

Media transport is possible using portable USB 2.0 or FireWire hard drives, high-speed data lines, or satellite multicast transmissions. Redundant power supplies and RAID arrays for storage bring a high level of fault tolerance to the system, while an innovatively designed USB remote control panel provides familiar operational controls, such as Play, Pause, and Stop, along with an LCD status display and menu buttons.

Benefits

Windows XP Embedded delivered several important benefits to Qube Cinema, including a reduced OS footprint for enhanced security; the .NET programming model for an easy way to tie into back office systems; the ability to tap into the vast Windows ecosystem for technical support; and device drivers for quick and easy integration of peripherals and other hardware systems. 

Reduced OS Footprint for Enhanced Security and Reliability

Security and reliability are top priorities for theater owners. Qube Cinema was able to meet these requirements by exercising precise control over the final operating system image. By eliminating unnecessary software components, the company reduced the surface area for potential attacks. And by streamlining the operating system, it enhanced reliability to such an extent that it can make service agreements guaranteeing uptime for theater operators.

“Windows XP Embedded gave us granular control over software components, stability, and security,” says Ramachandran. “At the same time, Windows XP technology provided us with a rich set of features and functionality.”

The combination of Windows XP Embedded and Microsoft® DirectShow®, for example, gave Qube Cinema all of the functionality needed to support each element of digital movie playback — a multiple-step process that encompasses decryption, decompression/decoding, image/sound processing, watermarking, and link encryption of audio/video.

“DirectShow was definitely a key enabling technology for us,” says Ramachandran. “We found DirectShow to be very extensible and robust, yet it was also simple to code using the C++ programming language. If we had used any OS other than Windows XP Embedded, it would have taken our developers more than one year to build a streaming media architecture as elegant and functional as DirectShow.”

Connectivity with Back-Office Systems

Another clear benefit of using Windows XP Embedded for the Qube XP Digital Cinema Server is easy integration with the Microsoft .NET Framework, a Web services strategy for connecting information, people, systems, and devices through software.

The Qube cinema server is a critical part of a movie theater’s overall information system. For example, the server must interoperate with the box office point-of-sale system to know what time to start a particular show. Qube Cinema has found that these back-office systems typically run on Microsoft platforms.

“Windows Server 2003 with SQL Server running a custom ASP.NET application is the most popular backend cinema platform we have encountered,” confirms Ramachandran. “Furthermore, our own back office system for a digital cinema network, QubeCentral, is an ASP.NET 2.0 web application running on Windows Server 2003 and using SQL Server as a database.  So everything works together easily.”

“All of our user interface and business logic is built on top of the .NET platform. Using the .NET platform programming model and connectivity, we can easily tie into back-office systems running on Microsoft technology. We can also build in connectivity features that let someone control the digital cinema server remotely and securely over a network.”

Windows Ecosystem

For Qube Cinema, technical support was another important benefit of working with the Windows platform. Not only does Qube Cinema have powerful domain expertise in Windows technology through its parent company, but Qube Cinema was also able to tap into the global Windows ecosystem for technical information, tips and tricks, partners, and more.

“Using Windows XP Embedded allowed us to access a vast human resource and knowledge base for Windows development and support,” says Ramachandran. “For instance, we heavily used the Microsoft Developer Network and related newsgroups as resources for answering questions about Microsoft products and technologies.”

Qube Cinema also participates in the Microsoft Windows Media partner program, which makes it easy to locate Digital Rights Management (DRM) partners, hardware product vendors, software product vendors, system integrators, and Microsoft producer partners.

Comprehensive Hardware Support

The Qube XP Digital Cinema Server requires several hardware peripheral devices, so device driver support was critically important for Qube Cinema. In addition to the peripherals required by the server, such as RAID hard drives and USB controller, the server also features automation support that needs to interact with various pieces of hardware in the theater, including lights, curtains, and audio systems.

“The Windows XP driver database is so extensive that we didn’t have to write a single device driver for the digital cinema servers,” boasts Ramachandran. “In essence, Windows technology helped us build a central media automation device that interacts with nearly every piece of hardware in the theater. Having solid Windows drivers for each of those devices literally saved us hundreds of man-hours in development time.”

For More Information

For more information about Microsoft products and services, call the Microsoft Sales Information Center at (800) 426-9400. In Canada, call the Microsoft Canada Information Centre at (877) 568-2495. Customers who are deaf or hard-of-hearing can reach Microsoft text telephone (TTY/TDD) services at (800) 892-5234 in the United States or (905) 568-9641 in Canada. Outside the 50 United States and Canada, please contact your local Microsoft subsidiary. To access information using the World Wide Web, go to:
www.microsoft.com

For more information about Qube Cinema, Inc. products and services, call +1 (818) 392-8155 or visit the Web site at:
www.qubecinema.com

Windows Embedded

The Windows Embedded family of products helps you turn your vision and ingenuity into superior business results. Windows Embedded consists of Windows Embedded CE, Windows XP Embedded and Windows Embedded for Point of Service. These operating system technologies combine with the best set of tools and support to provide you the control to build what you want, accelerated time to market, and industry-leading support.

For more information about Windows Embedded, please visit:
www.microsoft.com/windowsembedded

This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY. 

Document published March 2007

Keywords: Automation Devices, Storage Server