The number of digital cinema screens around the world reached 16,405 in 2009, up 86.4% from a year earlier, with further growth expected in 2010 as digital 3D pushes the market toward a 35mm-free cinema sector, according to Screen Digest.

Digital screens now account for 14.8% of the world's modern cinema screens, and over one-half (55%) of them are equipped with digital 3D.

Worldwide adoption of 3D screens reached 9,016 in 2009, up 255% from 2008 levels—driven in part by the release of the movie Avatar in December. The growth rate of 3D screen adoption was significantly higher in Western Europe, up 614%.

The US market was the early driver of digital cinema in the world, but the credit crunch affected the market significantly, in particular holding off the deal for Digital Cinema Implementation Partners (DCIP) to convert their 14,000 screens to digital.

By the end of 2009, the number of digital cinema screens in the US reached 7,418, up 34.5% from a year earlier—but still accounting for 45.2% of digital screens worldwide. Meanwhile, the number of 3D screens in the US reached 3,269 during the year, up 129.1% from 2008 levels.

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3D is also being tested in the field of alternative content. There are regular live 3D sports broadcasts in the US; in Europe, sports and opera have been broadcast live in 3D cinemas in recent months.

The eventual and inevitable conclusion of full digital cinema will likely take the better part of another decade to complete, although some countries will be all-digital well before then, according to Screen Digest.