TAMIU Student Center Bows New Digital Cinema

Where can you present your next seminar or film festival in digital cinema with surround sound?

That would be at the new Texas A&M International University Student Center Auditorium and Digital Cinema.

Installed last August, the new digital cinema allows users to show DVDs and videos, play CDs or make computer-based presentations. The results are digital images that display visual depth and accuracy... all with surround sound.

Users control the functions to the Student Center Auditorium and Digital Cinema from a monitor mounted on the lectern or a 4-inch monitor in the audio booth. The user-friendly monitor basically turns the presenter into a production crew, explained Betty Momayezi, executive director of TAMIU Student Life.

"An LCD touch screen monitor allows the user to control the lights and drop the projection screen while previewing a DVD on the monitor. The previewing capability provides seamless switching between audio and video that allows the user to change from DVD to videotape to a computer screen without any awkward jumps," Momayezi explained.

She said the new system provides a wide range of uses. For example, University groups recently presented several films for their Election Film Series and the TAMIU International Film Festival Spring 2005 is scheduled for March 31 - April 2, 2005.

Momayezi noted use is not limited to University groups. Recently, the Department of Homeland Security used the auditorium's new equipment for a meeting.

The 300-pound digital projector currently provides projection for a range of uses, but Momayezi said future modifications are planned.

"We'll add cable television, a 5-disc DVD player, video recording capability and a custom-designed lectern with a flush-mounted controller on the lectern surface, enhancing an already impressive digital cinema," she said.

The Student Center Auditorium and Digital Cinema is located in the Student Center in room 236.

An auditorium reservation form is available at www.tamiu.edu/reservation or contact Laura Cortez at lcortez@tamiu.edu or call 326.2930.

For more information on the TAMIU International Film Festival Spring 2005, please contact Dr. Sweety Law at 326.2642 or e-mail slaw@tamiu.edu. University office hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.