Recently the Far North Living Lab started by the Nothern Research Institute in Norway did a successful transmission test of 2K Digital Cinema material to a Theater using BitTorrent technology. They used the (EU Funded) Tribler BitTorrent client to stream a full blown film at full 2K resolution.
The lab’s launch was held at a local movie theater where the film “Carved” by Jonas Rejman was projected, with consent from the copyright holder of course. This is a digital streaming world premiere for BitTorrent, and one that shows how the technology can actually help digital cinema and independent filmmakers.
At the moment most digital movies are distributed on hard disks costing up to $2000 for each copy. BitTorrent has the power to change this outdated distribution method and get smaller budget films onto the big screen.
The Far North Living Lab’s experiment shows that it’s even possible to stream movies if the connection is good enough, but Dr. Njål Borch, a senior researcher involved in the project added that downloading the film beforehand is probably a better option.
The lab’s next stunt will be to stream a live concert to the city of Beijing as well as a few selected rural areas.
We want to participate in the world even though we are physically placed way beyond what most people find inhabitable, Dr. Borch said. We’re not afraid of the future, the Internet will not kill creativity. Quite on the contrary – we are very excited!