SHOWEAST/MIAMI, Fla. – (October 24, 2011) – Christie® has introduced the new Christie Avias-TMS™, a Theater Management System (TMS) software application that allows exhibitors to centrally manage and orchestrate all of their projection operations within a cinema multiplex – regardless of the diverse projector, servers or operating systems (OS) in use.
Easy to install and simple to use, Christie Avias-TMS™ can be accessed from any location through a standard Web browser, offering management the ultimate freedom and flexibility to conduct theater operations from an office or home PC, tablet computer or iPad. Its many features reduce the costs and inefficiencies of managing digital projectors separately. For example, the web GUI allows centralized scheduling of all content, devices and Key Delivery Messages (KDMs), including a drag and drop playlist to allow rapid changes based on changing customer demands.
“The Christie Avias-TMS™ is an exceptional overseer of cinema time management,” said Don Shaw, director, product management, Christie Entertainment Solutions. “It is ideal for theaters of all sizes, with multiple digital screens and hardware platforms, because it provides an easy-to-read dashboard interface that highlights in real-time all projector and screen statuses, as well as the overall progress of each playlist playback. Theater managers don’t have to move from station to station to manage devices and KDMs. They can remotely start, stop or pause any show on any screen from a single location.”
Collaboration with Arts Alliance Media Praised
In creating Christie Avias-TMS™, Shaw emphasized the collaboration with long-term industry partner, Arts Alliance Media (AAM), Europe’s leading supplier of a host of digital cinema technologies and services. “In keeping with Christie’s practice of incorporating tried-and-true third party solutions into some of our products to quickly deliver immediate benefits to our customers, the core of our TMS was built on AAM’s current, strong TMS offering,” noted Shaw.
Howard Kiedaisch, CEO of Arts Alliance Media, added, “We have worked with Christie since we first started in digital cinema and have always looked for ways of enhancing our partnership. As a manufacturer of digital cinema projectors, Christie boasts its own impressive engineering and development group, so it was only natural that the two of us as leaders in the industry would collaborate to the benefit of exhibitors across the globe.”
Shaw also noted that, while TMS solutions offered by some server manufacturers are often ‘thrown in’ with the deal, “You get what you pay for, because these so-called ‘free’ solutions tend to limit the exhibitor to one brand of server, effectively preventing the exhibitor from using existing or new hardware from other manufacturers.”
Christie Avias-TMS™ is all about choice for the exhibitor; it is OS and hardware neutral and does not mandate the expense of a specific Library Management Server (LMS). Furthermore, it fully supports all DCI-compliant DLP Cinema® projectors and servers, so it can be integrated seamlessly into any existing theater system.
“Like a conductor leading the orchestra, Christie Avias-TMS™ provides full control of every facet of a theater’s operation, allowing the freedom to run with the most cost-effective hardware for each of the screens that make up the digital cinema system,” said Shaw. “No matter how many screens you are managing, the Christie Avias-TMS™ is the perfect solution for getting the job done with a minimal amount of effort.”