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I think it is important to actually ASK about presentation quality, either in person, using customer comment cards, or with a telephone/Internet "hotline". And RESPOND to any comments, thanking them for praise and fixing any problems.

Theatres can set up their own "Theatre Quality Evaluation Program" along the lines of the SMPTE or TAP programs, asking regular technically-saavy moviegoers to report on presentation quality in detail, perhaps in exchange for free admission. The original SMPTE form is posted in the Film-Tech "Manuals" archive.

(ala, Wizard of OZ)

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I agree with you! Is exactly what I feel when I have my screen full of people...

I think that many customers cannot understand the technical issues "behind the window" (Gordon, I would like to have that shirt but my windows are very very little... ) and they will left the theater without any comments about presentation.
But I think that they'll remember a good presentation when go to see a bad prsentation.

"Hey, but there weren't that scratches and dirty at xyz theater last week, and the sound was far better..."

They'll probably say nothing at the staff but next time, watching the newspaper searching for a film they'll pay more attention for the theater...

Back in 1997 when I suddenly experienced several major problems on successive visits to one particular theatre, after having fairly good luck on most visits everywhere from 1982 to late 1996, I began to wonder if my perception of quality at various theatres was more subjective or objective, so I started keeping score.

Keeping track of presentation problems has been very educational because it forced me to learn a lot of the technical aspects of film presentation. Keeping notes also made me realize that the quality of presentation varies much more widely from theatre to theatre than I originally thought.

I'm one of the customers that will mention problems to the management if I feel the management cares. For example, at Regal River Oaks Cinema in Decatur, I know that manager cares. For example, one time, I noticed a small amount of shutter ghosting at the bottom of the image. I said to the manager on the way out, "I noticed a little shutter ghosting at the bottom of the image in number 3". He replied "I'll adjust it." I have noticed that the minor problems I've pointed out have been remedied on future visits to the theatre. This is a sign of excellent management.

On the other hand, If such problems are mentioned and they remain on future visits, or I notice general sloppiness most of the time, I won't bother telling the management or staff anything, and will put in a comment card through Regal's WWW site (if it's a Regal theatre). For example, at Madison Square 12 in Huntsville, I use comment cards and usually don't bother saying anything to the staff, because I already know what to expect most of the time, and know that problems tend to remain for long periods of time.

Based on my observations, other theatre customers don't seem to care about quality as long as problems aren't so obvious that even a child would notice them (bad focus, frame line visible in picture, badly distorted sound or no sound, etc.).

I feel that I care about presentation quality more than 98 percent or more of the customers out there. Even my other technical friends that I work with don't care much. A friend of mine just saw "Miss Congeniality" and I asked him, "Was it flat or scope?" and he replied "I have no idea." I asked him because I wanted to know, since nobody posted the details in the info and trailer attachments forum.

In summary:
Does the average customer care? No, not unless there is a fairly major problem.

Ultimate example: A manager told me that at a Lousiana location, a showing of Titanic was played with a flat lens -- the ENTIRE movie -- and nobody complained. The staff noticed it about 15 minutes before the end of the movie and they all agreed not to change it since nobody seemed to care.

Evans A Criswell

Huntsville-Decatur Theatre Info and Projection Quality Ratings (on this site, notes are available for every movie seen at all local theatres):
http://home.hiwaay.net/~criswell/theatre/

At a theater in Florence a friend of mine showed "Mission to Mars" (2.35:1) with masking for 1.85 and noone complained.

I showed the first 10 minutes of reel 4 of "La cena dei cretini" (A french film) at a volume of 3.5 instead of 7.5. Was for my mistake but is it possible that anyone noted that the volume was suddenly lower??? I'm talking about 3.5-7.5...