Photos: Millennium Dome gets a makeover

One of The O2's 11 cinema screens is a 22m-wide behemoth boasting a resolution of 2048x1020 pixels. NEC claims that this is the UK's first custom-built digital cinema screen, and all the screens in The O2's Vue cinema complex are digital-ready. The screens could even be used to show concerts happening in the adjacent arena if demand is high enough.

NEC was keen to show off its NC2500 projector, which it claims is the world's brightest cinema projector and particularly suited to a resurgence of 3D cinema, should that occur. This equipment has already been put to use in the Odeon cinema complex in Hatfield, although that was converted rather than purpose-built.

One of the advantages of digital cinema — at least for the content industry — is the fact that films can be watermarked. Although these markings are invisible to someone sitting in the cinema, those trying to furtively use a camcorder for piracy purposes could find their images spoiled by a blank square in the middle of the picture, or the time and date of the showing permanently emblazoned across the screen.