The term was popularized by Digital Cinema Initiatives, LLC in its original recommendation[1] for packaging DC contents.
[2] A DCP is a container format for compositions,[3] a hierarchical file structure that represents a title version.
However, as already noted, it is commonplace in the industry to discuss the title in terms of a DCP, as that is the deliverable to the cinema.
[6] SMPTE DCP requires significant constraints to ensure success in the field, as shown by ISDCF.
The DCP root folder (in the storage medium) contains a number of files, some used to store the image and audio contents, and some other used to organize and manage the whole playlist.
The order is saved in XML format in this file; each picture and sound reel is identified by its UUID.
This file is generally used during ingestion in a digital cinema server to verify if data have been corrupted or tampered with in some way.
For example, an MXF picture reel is identified by the following
Since the maximum bit rate is always 250 Mbit/s, this results in a net 125 Mbit/s for single frame, but the visual quality decrease is generally unnoticeable.
Facilities follow strict guidelines set out in the DCI recommendations to ensure compatibility with all digital cinema equipment.
For bigger studio release films, the facility will usually create a Digital Cinema Distribution Master (DCDM).
For this reason, the encoding facility needs to have extensive knowledge in color space handling including, on occasion, the use of 3D LUTs to carefully match the look of the finished DCP to a celluloid film print.
[12] Sign Language Video tracks are displayed to moviegoers in portrait orientation on a second screen device.
[9][10] VP9-compressed video is stored in an uncompressed PCM audio channel with a 48 kHz sample rate and a 24-bit bitrate, occupying a fixed bandwidth of 1.152 Mbps.
[13] This method retains random access playback ability ("trick play") and is compatible with all existing digital cinema projection systems.
[10] The InterSociety Digital Cinema Forum (ISDCF) released an open-source encoder and decoder for Sign Language Video on GitHub.
The symmetric AES keys used to encrypt the content essence must be carefully protected, so they are never distributed directly.
[15] Information obtained from watermarks in unauthorized copies, along with logs generated by Media Blocks, can be examined as part of an investigation to identify the source of the recordings.
[15] The watermark includes a time stamp and a unique ID associated with the Secure Processing Block (SPB).
Hard drive units are normally hired from a digital cinema encoding company, sometimes in quantities of thousands.
Other methods adopt a full digital delivery, using either dedicated satellite links or high-speed Internet connections.