Movie Theatre Preference? Digital or film projection? Imax?

[Tom Lowe]

Yeah that is nuts that there are so many 4K projectors, and not much 4K content. But then again, those theaters who bought 4K instead of 2K made the right decision. There are gonna be a lot of 2K projectors in the garbage heap one day.

 

[M Most]

Yeah that is nuts that there are so many 4K projectors, and not much 4K content. But then again, those theaters who bought 4K instead of 2K made the right decision. There are gonna be a lot of 2K projectors in the garbage heap one day.

Well, it's not really nuts if you consider that Sony's primary motivation for going the 4K route was because they had essentially missed out on the digital cinema rollout because they did not license TI's technology, and they needed to go in with some sort of "kicker" to differentiate their entry. But the Sony technology has its own limitations. For one, as far as many of us who are post professionals are concerned, the blacks on the Sony projector are not nearly as defined as on DLP Cinema projectors. For all the added resolution, the images in general just aren't as good, at least not to most of our eyes. Resolution isn't everything, as much as many here would like to believe that it is. Just about every DI done today is timed using a DLP Cinema projector. So if it's accuracy to the artistic intent that you're after, the "right decision" today actually is a 2K DLP Cinema projector.

There are going to be a lot of things in the garbage heap one day. HDTV's, iPhones, gas guzzling cars, and just about every computer you've ever seen. That doesn't make them bad investments today.

 

[Tom Lowe]

The reason I think 4K projectors are going to rule cinema houses in the not-too-distant future is the simple fact that 2K simply looks too "pixelated" on the big screen if you are sitting in the first ten rows.

I know that some people will argue with this statement and deny it. I'm just reporting what I have seen with my own two eyes.

 

[David Mullen ASC]

Well, if you sit too close to most any projection system and the underlying structure starts to become apparent, whether it is film grain or pixels.

And these days, it's hard to know whether some aliasing or noise or stairsteeping / jaggies is in the original master or from the digital projection...

 

[Tom Lowe]

I've seen about 5 features in 2K digital, and all of them had really terrible pixelation. Maybe I'm just overly picky about it. On the other hand, the colors just jump off the screen with digital projection.

I imagine, just due to the basic laws of science, that 4K looks a lot less pixelated on a large movie screen. Have you ever seen a 4K projection of 4K material at a theater?

I'm gonna have to drive up to the Landmark one of these days and try to see a 4K feature.

http://www.landmarktheatres.com/Market/LosAngeles/LosAngeles_Frameset.htm

How do you know which features are real 4K?

 

[David Mullen ASC]

I don't know of anything projected in movie theaters using the 4K Sony projectors that came from a 4K DCI playback source, even if it was originally from a 4K D.I. master.

I'm not sure there is even anything deliverable to theaters that holds 4K. Most 4K demos using 4K sources involved special set-ups brought in just for that screening. What the theaters get are 2K DCI files even for screening using a 4K Sony projector.

That said, the 4K Sony screenings I've seen at the Landmark ("Blade Runner", "Dr. Strangelove") from 2K DCI files seemed "smoother" looking, but at the expense of true blacks. It's pretty... but the lack of blacks was not so great for a b&w movie like "Dr. Strangelove", let alone a noir-ish movie like "Blade Runner".

Real-time 4K playback is very difficult still; even D.I. suites working with 4K scans often project in 2K just to keep things moving in real time without hang-ups.

 

[Mark L. Pederson]

I showed 8 minutes of one of our projects from a 4K DCP at NAB. Let's just say I'm hooked on 4K projection for large venues.

Most of the DCI servers out there actually play 4K DCPs with ease at 250 MBs.

TWO THINGS will accelerate the inevitable -

#1 - The ability to encode DCPs with ease. That's coming - practically TOMORROW.

#2 - A lower cost, easier to use projector than the Sony 4K.

JVC, BARCO, CHRISTIE are all developing (or are about to release) 4K projectors - although I don't think any of the three are going to hit the "disruptive price point" right out of the gate - it's coming sooner than you think.

My money is on JVC.