Major studios have agreed how digital projectors should work, meaning approved technology can now be manufactured and installed.

With digital projectors, films are screened and distributed by computer.

Oscars president Frank Pierson said it was "an important milestone in the advancement" of motion pictures.

Studios have spent the last three years working on the technology and have now settled on specifications they say are good enough for all types of movies.

But it is not clear whether the studios or cinema chains will foot the bill for the new equipment - and whether ticket prices will go up as a result.

It has been reported that each projector will cost $60,000-$100,000 (£34,000-£57,000).

Industry group Digital Cinema Initiatives (DCI) said the technology will become "increasingly affordable, to the point where that stumbling block should no longer be of consequence".

The cost of distributing each film will be cut by 75% because studios can send their films to cinemas by satellite, fibre optic cable or disc, instead of truck.

"In its first hundred years, our art form made a forceful universal impression, at least partly because worldwide standards for projecting film were adopted early on," he said.

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"The next hundred years are likely to be similarly affected by DCI's work in defining how digital motion pictures will be presented to world audiences."

Star Wars creator George Lucas hailed the deal as "a giant leap forward".

"Digital cinema will increasingly become the standard and will change the way movies are made, seen and experienced around the world."

Titanic director James Cameron said digital cinema would "revolutionise the cinematic experience for moviegoers around the world".

Forrest Gump director Robert Zemeckis added: "Hallelujah - it's about time."

DCI's Walt Ordway said: "We now have a unified specification that will allow manufacturers to create products that will be employable at movie theatres throughout the country and, it is hoped, throughout the world."