Random question about Cinemas/Pictures

SkScotchegg

SkScotchegg

SkScotchegg

Soldato
Joined
4 Nov 2002
Posts
2,982
Location
England - Leeds
Hi there, I wonder if anyone can please answer this question....I was just thinking with the recent advances in video such as blueray and having such amazing quality films at home, when are they going to upgrade the rubbish projectors they use at the cinema/pictures? They never seem to get any better.

Dont get me wrong, I love going to the cinema and seeing something new on the big screen, and its amazing and all that, but the detail isnt good really if you think about it. So just wondered why they dont have some sort of new technology? Or would it cost too much to make something look as a good as a blueray DVD on a cinema screen of that size?

Thanks in advance,


SkScotchegg:D
 
I thought Cinema projectors were well above HD quality? I mean, you never notice the pixels do you? And on a screen that big I'm sure you would even in 1080p.
 
Lol, Cinema projectors use celluloid. Like, shown in one of the highest resolutions possible. It owns your TV about 4 times over.

Hasn't anyone watched Fight Club?

Cigarette butts?
 
It also depends on the type of projector. Cinema's can get DVD projectors but they do cost a lot and generaly its not worth it.
 
The move to digital cinema is a slow one. The technology has been around since 2000 when Disney piloted a digital roll out for Toy Story 2.

It has taken all that time for the studios/SMPTE to ratify a specification. We are now on version 1.2 of the spec but the slow uptake is due to the cost rather than the technology. If you want to read the spec you can find it here:- http://www.dcimovies.com/

If you you do not want to read that the basic spec is as follows:-
2048 x 1080 (or 2k is the short name)
Jpeg2000 compression for video
Up to 250mbps bitrate.
up to 16 channels of uncompressed sound.

The projection technology is based around a Texas Instruments 'Black Chip' DLP:-http://www.dlp.com/cinema/default.aspx This chip is OEM'd to Chrisitie, Barco and NEC for use in Cinema systems.

The encryption used to secure the format is based around public/private keys called KDMs (key delivery message). Each playback server needs a KDM to allow payback of a particular asset.

The UK roll out has largely been done by :- http://www.artsalliancemedia.com/cinema/ who have installed 255 systems. There are over 4000 systems in North America.
 
That Texas Instruments chip sounds incredible:

TI said:
The DLP® chip is probably the world's most sophisticated light switch. It contains a rectangular array of up to 2 million hinge-mounted microscopic mirrors; each of these micromirrors measures less than one-fifth the width of a human hair.

When a DLP® chip is coordinated with a digital video or graphic signal, a light source, and a projection lens, its mirrors can reflect a digital image onto a screen or other surface. The DLP® chip and the sophisticated electronics that surround it are what we call DLP® technology.

techwhy2rn3.jpg


A DLP® chip's micromirrors are mounted on tiny hinges that enable them to tilt either toward the light source in a DLP® projection system (ON) or away from it (OFF)-creating a light or dark pixel on the projection surface.

The bit-streamed image code entering the semiconductor directs each mirror to switch on and off up to several thousand times per second. When a mirror is switched on more frequently than off, it reflects a light gray pixel; a mirror that's switched off more frequently reflects a darker gray pixel.
Millions of tiny mirrors make the picture amazing.

In this way, the mirrors in a DLP® projection system can reflect pixels in up to 1,024 shades of gray to convert the video or graphic signal entering the DLP® chip into a highly detailed grayscale image.
3. Adding color

The white light generated by the lamp in a DLP® projection system passes through a color wheel as it travels to the surface of the DLP® chip. The color wheel filters the light into red, green, and blue, from which a single-chip DLP® projection system can create at least 16.7 million colors. And the 3-chip system found in DLP Cinema® projection systems is capable of producing no fewer than 35 trillion colors.

The on and off states of each micromirror are coordinated with these three basic building blocks of color. For example, a mirror responsible for projecting a purple pixel will only reflect red and blue light to the projection surface; our eyes then blend these rapidly alternating flashes to see the intended hue in a projected image.
techwhy3qq1.jpg
Click to expand...
 
The newest Rambo looked awful to me in the cinema and the cinemas i go to are generally very good quality. Always thought they showed them above HD cause you never see the pixels like you do on an LCD or home projector.
 
Strife212 said:
What is the point of moving the cinemas to digital, not the same benefits as the home user would get - surely its just a downgrade.
Click to expand...

I'd assume it's a much more robust format than film. You'd get fewer blips, dustmarks and "pops" in the sound I guess. Obviously it also depends on the quality at the recording end as well as the reproduction in the theatre.
 
Nymins said:
The newest Rambo looked awful to me in the cinema and the cinemas i go to are generally very good quality. Always thought they showed them above HD cause you never see the pixels like you do on an LCD or home projector.
Click to expand...

Celluloid is above HD because it doesn't have pixels. Imagine having infinite pixels and that's celluloid.

If I remember rightly studios are beginning to digitise a lot of older films for digital storage, mainly at about 6000 lines. However, HD is not as good quality as film.
 
Whenever I go to a Cineworld, 9 times out of 10 it always seems to be out of focus... and REALLY obvious when the BBFC classification bit comes up before the film... *****!

NO SWEARING
 
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