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Lake Anna, VA, USA (December 29, 2011)—The White Oak Institute and the Giant Screen Cinema Association (GSCA) announce GSCA’s stewardship of the NSF-funded Digital Immersive Giant Screen Specifications (DIGSS 1.0). By a unanimous Board vote on September 22, 2011, the GSCA accepted the role of stewardship of DIGSS 1.0 with a goal of further developing the recommendations, announced Tammy Thurmon, Executive Director of GSCA. John Jacobsen, principal investigator of the Digital Immersive Screen Colloquium for Unified Standards and Specifications (DISCUSS NSF-ISE 0946691) said, “GSCA’s stewardship will enable the refinement and administration of DIGSS 1.0+, its screen testing and its global buy-in.”
DIGSS 1.0 is already serving as the goal for the new Peoria Riverfront Museum’s GS digital theater (Peoria, IL – opening on October 20, 2012), with plans to operate in both 2D and 3D and in both 16:9 and 4:3 image on a 70’ x 52’ screen, coming as close as possible to achieving DIGSS 1.0 specifications. The Museum selected of Global Immersion as the GS system provider and RealD for the 3D cinema system.
DIGSS 1.0 are a field-based, open access family of specifications for theater geometry, projection, audio playback, and digital distribution specifications for 2D, 3D, flat and dome theaters. DIGSS support a museum’s needs for immersive learning that are distinct from Hollywood cinemas, particularly with regard to screen size and image aspect ratio (4:3, +/-) that most clearly differentiate the current global giant-screen (GS) network from conventional movie theaters.
“The GSCA represents the giant-screen field; as such, the GSCA is both the logical and necessary organization to oversee open standards that reflect the needs of its member museum theaters,” says John Jacobsen. “GSCA’s stewardship of DIGSS 1.0 will pave the way for innovation by suppliers and innovators.”
DIGSS 1.0 is the result of the NSF-funded DISCUSS Colloquium, where 20 science museum leaders and technical experts met for a successful 3-day conference in Marblehead, MA from June 14 to 16, 2010, and where they reached consensus on the first draft of specifications for digital giant-screen (GS) theaters in the international museum market. The results of the NSF-funded project (NSF-ISE 0946691) are available free at http://whiteoakinstitute.org/ and http://www.giantscreencinema.com/.
 About the White Oak Institute: The mission of the White Oak Institute is to further innovation in the museum field through research, analysis, and dissemination of data-based findings drawn from museum operations. The White Oak Institute bridges research and museum management by convening experts and museum managers to develop draft resources that are then opened to field-wide review before a 1.0 version is issued and then transferred to a sustainable partner. The DISCUSS Initiative and DIGSS 1.0 are part of several such projects developed and managed by the White Oak Institute. The White Oak Institute is a non-profit formed by the owner/principals of White Oak Associates, Inc.
 About GSCA: The core purpose of the Giant Screen Cinema Association (GSCA®) is to advance the business of producing and presenting educational giant screen and immersive cinema experiences globally. GSCA’s membership includes more than 250 organizations in nearly 30 countries. Member organizations include giant screen filmmakers, distributors, theaters, suppliers, manufacturers, and students from around the world.
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GSCA Named as Steward of NSF-funded Digital Immersive Giant Screen Specifications (DIGSS)
