Star Wars Digital Projection Theaters

Zoreta writes "Wired Magazine lists the 19 digital projection theaters in the country where Attack of the Clones can be viewed as Lucas intended." Say what you will, I can't wait for AotC- digital projector or not. I just wish *blatant non subtle hinting* some kind soul could get me into an early showing in the Detroit/Ann Arbor area ;) And at least I have spiderman to tide me over. Sam Rami vs. George Lucas. Gonna be a fun summer.

General Cinema Framingham, MA

[WinDoze]

Only way to see a movie! Reserved seating, big leather seats, individual tables at each seat, and best of all, a FULL BAR (also meaning nobody under 21 allowed!)! Nothing like watching a flick with a martini while sitting in a nice leather chair. Check it out [moviewatcher.com]. I can never go to a "regular" theater again.

Saw digital Phantom Menace

[crow]

I saw the digital projection of The Phantom Menace in New Jersey, and was impressed. The picture was absolutely perfect. I'm not certain I would have noticed the difference if I hadn't been told, but ever since I've noticed film glitches in other movies--little flecks on a frame or dammage due to having been played too many times.

So this time it's 16 instead of 2. Hopefully in a few years it will become standard.

Perhaps a silly question...

[Anonymous Coward]

But does it really make THAT much of a difference? Better clarity would be great, but are we talking VHS versus DVD quality difference here? Is it that noticeable? Has anyone here seen a film on both film and digital to be able to tell whether or not it's worth a trek to one of these already overcrowded theaters?

Is Digital Projection Really Better?

[Walker]

I wonder about this, seeing as I have been quite unimpressed by digital cable. True, the picture is extremely clear when it is working perfectly. However, it is not very fault tolerant. A bad analog signal might give me a little snow; I can still enjoy the program. Even a slightly bad digital signal causes massive pixelation; when that happens you cannot make out anything on the screen at all. The Moral: digital is better when it works, but worse when it does not.

Re:Saw digital Phantom Menace

[interstellar_donkey]

I watched TPM in the LA area when it was released. I came in being a film snob sure that digital would never replace a reel.

I left wondering when the theatres would get around to making this standard. The picture quality was as good or better then 35mm, and the lack of artifacts in the projection was great.

Digital Projection

[delphin42]

How is it that a theater in Arizona and one in Kansas get a digital projector before many of the much larger markets? Anyone from either of these towns have any information on these theaters?

The only way to see movies!

[Michael O-P]

I saw Episode I digitally projected at the AMC Burbank North 6, and it was magnificent. You don't realize the difference while you're watching unless you really think about it. It's after the movie that you realize there wasn't a single error or marking on the "print".

It's odd that this theater was chosen for digital projection, as there are 2 other AMCs (Media Center 14, and Media Center 8) within walking distance to this one. The North 6 is the least crowded, and the theaters aren't huge. This is a great place to catch movies that you know are released digitally. Went to see Toy Story 2 there, didn't plan to see it digitally, but that's how they were showing it. Animation in particular is much more vivid in this format.

End rambling.

Why only 16 Theaters? Money!

[crow]

Of course, the problem is the cost of upgrading. The studios want the theaters to absorb the entire cost, but the theaters say that the studios will save money with digital distribution, so they should cover a good portion of the cost.

Considering that the studios already claim enough of the ticket sales that the concessions are all that are keeping the theaters in business, I don't expect to see digital projection as the standard anytime soon.

AMC Pleasure Island 24 Lake Buena Vista, Florida

[techstar25]

AMC Pleasure Island 24 Lake Buena Vista, Florida (which is at Walt Disney World in Orlando)
. . . and I didn't think anything good could ever come from living near Walt Disney World. With the student discount the evening admission is only $5!

Re:Is Digital Projection Really Better?

[mosch]

Actually, digital cable has significantly lower resolution than analog cable. Even when it's working perfectly, it doesn't look as good as analog. The moral: digital != better.

Cinemark Legacy in Plano

[foobar104]

I saw both Toy Story 2 and Monsters, Inc. on the DLP at the Cinemark Legacy in Plano. Three things really blew me away.

First, it's bright! When the green "the following preview has been approved..." slate goes up, the sheer amount of light coming back off that screen is just amazing.

The next thing that surprised me is the noise: there isn't any. You don't notice the sound of the projector (that "tuh-tuh-tuh-tuh" sound of the gate opening and closing) until it's gone. When the house lights go down before the movie starts, it's completely silent in the theater, which is pretty cool.

Finally, there's no flicker. That's another thing you don't notice until it's gone. Despite the fact that the image is being shown to you at 24 frames per second, there's either no refresh effect in the DLP at all, or so little that your eye doesn't see it. A traditional screen, lit by a film projector, goes dark 48 times per second, and your eye picks up on that. A DLP screen doesn't. I guess that also contributes to the overall brightness; you're getting something like a third more lumens to the screen just because you're not closing a gate twice per frame.

Oh, and in case you're wondering why there's a DLP cinema in Plano, TX, I think it's because this theater is right across the street from the TI facility where they invented DLP. At least that's the story.

Re:General Cinema Framingham, MA

[56ker]

Being 6'4'' the thing I look for in a cinema is enough room for me to sit comfortably and stretch my legs.

Re:General Cinema Framingham, MA

[soulsteal]

Being 6'4'' the thing I look for in a cinema is enough room for me to sit comfortably and stretch my legs.

Amen brother. being 6' 5" makes sitting in movie theater rows awful cramped. Plus I can't find a place to keep my huge feets. =/

Baltimore, MD: The Senator

[selan]

The Senator [senator.com] is the best place to see it in Baltimore. This is a very cool independent theater that has survived since the 40s. There is only one screen so you get to see the movie in a huge hall together with 800 other screaming fans. The owner is a cool guy whose's a big Star Wars fan and gets up on stage to personally introduce each showing. It's a great experience.

Several experts DONT think it's better.

[nobodyman]

There are several perople that are rallying against digital projection. Roger Ebert, Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg to name a few. These are people who have a vast amount of experience in this field. Ebert, for one, has been the most vocal about his distaste for digital projection: claiming that it yields muted colors and compression artifacts.

No doubt it's better than DVD quality, but there definitely some compression going on. To match the quality of 35mm print, you need something like a 5 megapixel camera. For 1/1.85 aspect ratio projection you're talking about a 3,000 x 1600 pixel image. Is the resolution on DLP that good? On the DLP website [dlp.com] I couldn't get any hard numbers for what the resolution will be for digital projection (there's alot of info there, so be my guest). Even with DVD compression levels you're gonna have to put this thing on a 100gig hard drive, and the compression is quite noticable to film buffs (admittedly, I can only tell with poorely encoded dvd's).

Besides, there are alot of things that influence the quality of the cinema experience. Hardly any theatres use the correct brightness for their projectors. Furthermore, the jump to 50mm or 75mm film would have an astounding leap in quality. You could double the framerate, but you'd also double the number of film canisters (I worked at a theater during high school, those suckers can get pretty big and heavy).

Re:how can you spell raimi wrong :/

[Strange_Attractor]

You took the words right out of my mouth.<g>

<signed>
Steve Raimi (your answers, in order:

1. yes
2. a second cousin
3. extremely proud
4. No, I can't get you [or me!] any freebies/access/jobs

)

Re:'black level' = 'contrast ratio'

[jelle]

CRT is still CRT, it doesn't matter whether or not the tube is big or small, or where the phosporus is located. A CRT monitor is still a projection system, because the electron beams project an image to the front of the tube where the phosphorus converts it into visible light. The only difference with a large screen 'rear projection TV' is that there the phospohurus is located farther away from the screen.

Ditto LCD, LCD is a light filter. An LCD panel is a light filtering LCD layer on top of a backlight. In a projector, it's an light filtering LCD screen in front of a more intensive bulb. Possibly the projector includes a mirror (and cooling) surface right behind the LCD screen and the light performs a 180 right before or after passing through the LCD, but it's really the same thing, the LCD filters the light.

What is darkest is not important. All you need is sufficient contrast ratio, and then you control the light in your viewing room and you colour your projection screen and its surroundings to reflect the absolute black level that matches your viewing room and preferences.

This discussion [avsforum.com] contains some interesting material to read.

Lucas, it's like I said before:

[acoustix]

You're the reason, George, why there aren't more digital screens today. You demand 80% of the box for your movies and even a cut of the concessions! (which by the way is unheard of).

Theatre companies don't make as much money off of your movies as you think they do (especially since you take 80%). So where are these theatres supposed to get money from to buy these $100,000-$500,000 digital projectors? Most theatres have a hard enough time trying to pay employess, advertising, and performing maintnance on the theatres without you asking these theaters to do costly upgrades.

Besides, when would the theatres use the digital projectors? Once every 3 years when you release a movie?

Maybe Lucas should open his own Theatre Company and realize that money for upgrades is hard to come by.