Digital Projection - YUK!!!

[Dylan Reeve]

I will never pay to see a 'eCinema' movie at Rialto in Auckland, they are absolute shite. Their press release proudly proclaims their offering of a 1280x768 'High Definition' projector... Screw that.

Atlab should know better. So should Rialto.

 

[Joel Kaye]

I will never pay to see a 'eCinema' movie at Rialto in Auckland, they are absolute shite. Their press release proudly proclaims their offering of a 1280x768 'High Definition' projector... Screw that.

Atlab should know better. So should Rialto.

Ouch. I finally saw a 2k feature a couple weeks in some town back East and it looked awesome. Much better than the film projectors I'm used to at my local theater. I'm sold on good digital projection. Actually, I guess I saw Elizabeth in the Dome at the Arclight a while back and was blown away by that too. But a lot of that was just the experience of that theater. I'd see every movie that came through there if I lived there.

 

[Mitch Deoudes]

To come back to Blade Runner: Final Cut for a sec, - I saw this at the cinema the other night (Duke of Yorks in Brighton) in 2k, and I noticed that the lens flares from the flying vehicles looked spherical.

Does anyone know exactly what was done to those cityscape shots for the Final Cut? The Tyrell pyramid looked way *too* sharp to me... almost CGI-sharp. It really seemed to clash with other scenes in the film, in that regard - like the interior of Tyrell's apartment, for example. I found it really distracting.

On a related note - I sort of like dust & scratches, sometimes. (And yeah, I own a lot of vinyl, too. You gotta problem with that?)

 

[Michel Hafner]

Does anyone know exactly what was done to those cityscape shots for the Final Cut? The Tyrell pyramid looked way *too* sharp to me... almost CGI-sharp.

Scanned at > 4K from the 65mm sfx master. That is how the master looks.

 

[Robert Niessner]

I hope that the problem was with the cinema I went to, and this is not what is in store for the movie going experience. I was really aware I was seeing a video projection within a few seconds of the picture starting (I didn't know that it was a digital screening beforehand). It was especially distracting on the subtitles, but also made film shot on 35mm look like it was on digibeta.

Apparently the projector was HD (2K). The resolution was fine, its just looked like nasty video, very domestic. The projector was a panasonic PTD550E, installed by ATLAB.

nzben, I can assure you that they projected from a DVD - the hint from you about the subtitles is more than enough to know were the source originated.
The projector they are mentioning is the Panasonic PT-DW5100E DLP, a quite good projector for smaller screens. I know that for myself, because I own the predecessor, the PT-DW5500E. And it has been used many times for nice screening in cinemas. It supports 720p (= 1280x768) and has a rated brightness of 4500 ANSI lumen. It can deliver a very sharp and clear picture when setup right and fed with HD sources. But it is by far not a real Digital Cinema Projector. For that it must have 10.000 ANSI and more and 2k resolution - which is a completly other league.

However for smaller screens the Panasonic can deliver a nice picture.

They shouldn't even be using that projector! The Panasonic PT-D55x[x][n] series projectors all have 3500 to 5000 lumens, XGA resolution (not even HD, they're 1024x768) and are targeted at corporate venue presentations, trade show floors, etc. They're bigger and brighter than many home theatre projectors (and more expensive), but IMO not as good as most of the newer HD resolution DLP offerings. I would be offended if I paid money to see something projected on the PT-D550E (Euro model, 1st-gen D55xx unit).

True, but this Panasonic projector isn't even designed to be a home theatre projector. Its a business / education product - hence XGA resolution. The average theatrical release movie projected on that would only use about 1024 x 440 pixels .... and as a business projector its only rated to have a 400:1 contrast ratio. No shame on Panasonic for that, its being used in an application it was never designed for.

Jeff, Stuart - you are both mixed it up with the business line of Panasonic. The PTW series are designed for 720p (WXGA) and better contrast ratio. They are made for digital projection in cinemas.