The Buffalo (NY) News ran an article this weekend about movie theaters’ transition to digital projection systems. At the top, with a great photo of the new projector, is Rick Cohen, owner of the Transit Drive-In (Lockport NY).

Cohen and the Transit converted to digital in March, and he’s happy about the improvements.  Instead of wrestling with huge reels of film for an hour each just to set up each movie, now he pops in a disc and is ready in less than five minutes. “And the quality is amazing,” Cohen said, “the dirt, dust, scratches and color-fade over time are all eliminated. The color remains vibrant.”

The other nice factor is that ticket sales are up 12 percent since the conversion, which Cohen attributed to “a better quality product that’s worth paying for.”

The Transit tied its conversion to a concession stand upgrade, and the whole project cost $1.5 million, half paid through fundraisers, half through a loan. According to the article, “Cohen encourages other operators to bite the bullet and pay the initial cost to convert because its an upgrade to their businesses with long-term benefits.” Go check it out!