Your attempt to make me look like an ass with those questions won't work! They don't have anything to do with what we're talking about here! Anyway as I type this I can't even see the questions, and I'm not going to print them.

The answer to the Beta question is Sony, however. But that is trivial knowledge and not actually video knowledge. Trivia does not equal knowledge.

So I have a few for you.

1. What is the actual resolution of DV Video (not just digital video, but specifically the DV format)?

2. While on the subject of DV, what is the compression ratio?

3. What is the best way to remove flicker from video shot from film showing on a screen (moral obligations aside) using only standard video editing equipment? (I am not going to post the answer to this one, by the way).

4. (Non video related) How long does it take a single person to write a product review?

I don't actually expect answers here. Not because of lack of knowledge, but because this is just stupid. I honestly have no reason to feign superiority by testing others. Sorry if I'm overreacting. The end.

The Song Remains the Same is fine in its own right but certainly not great though I love Led Zepplin.

Fleetwood Mac had a very good concert film for their TUSK album.

Paul McCarney had a good WINGS concert film in 1980 too

And of course in Rockumentary, THIS IS SPINAL TAP is supreme!

Steve

I felt each were different, but worth it. Nothing is going to match a live performance, but for the price, it was quite acceptable.

I did feel (and Gordon sort of confirmed it) that "At the MAX" was treated as a regular, "real" release by IMAX.

A slightly funny story; IMAX theaters are usually used to getting tourists, school groups, etc. so the ushers usually have a fairly easy time. When an IMAX theater near us got "At the MAX" they had to get used to unruly crowds, late-commers, people who want to go out, come back, people stoned, drunk, barfing in the aisles and bathrooms, mad rushs at the consession stand, and so on. We had to lend them a few seasoned ushers and candy people to actually help and train the IMAX staff to deal with it all.

My favorite digital cinema myth is the one where the proponents of d-cinema talk about how exhibitors will be able to change their schedules at the drop of a hat to accomodate demand (or lack there of) for certain offerings. The problem here is that no one is considering that the earliest an exhibitor can change it's schedule is based on newspaper advertising deadlines. For instance if you open picture A and B on the same Friday and A is a huge dog and B is a huge hit, you can't just drop A or slash it's showtimes until Tuesday, at the earliest, provided that your newspaper can accept an ad for Tuesday on Monday. All you'll be able to do is what we do now, move the dog to the smallest room possible and move the hit to the biggest room possible. Nothing changes. The majority of the public still get their movie times from the newspaper.

My second favorite digital cinema myth is the ancilliary revenue d-cinema will bring in by being able to show concerts, sports and all kinds of other TV at your theatre. There are two problems here. One, who is going to pay $8.00 to see a concert when TV is flooded with concerts and music stuff. Heck, you can't even revive classic concert films right now because they are all on VH-1 all the time (except of course for the ubiquitous showings of Behind the Music, but that's another rant). Secondly, just because a theatre has digital cinema, Sony, Disney, Paramount, Fox and all the other distributors aren't suddenly going to roll over and say, "ok, my movie can share a screen with the non-movie product." Absolutely not - if you've ever read the exhibition license agreement or the letters the studios send everyone every 6 months, you know that an exhibitor can't split product on a screen without the permission of the distributor, according to the license agreement. The distributor is entitled to have their film be the exclusive presentation on that screen during all open hours. Yes, theatres do sometimes split product without permission and yes they sometimes get caught and taken off-service, but digital cinema isn't going to overturn that tenent of the business.

And, don't you think the tv networks, who pay hundreds of millions for the broadcast rights to sporting events are gonna put up a fight over Technicolor d-cinema and exhibitors showing the same events for a fee in theatres? I think they'll kick up a huge ruckus. Same story for plays, broadway shows, opera, etc. There are long established relationships that aren't going to go away just because movie theatres have digital projection capabilities.

Don't get me wrong, as a specialty exhibitor, there are lots of programs I can present on video and charge for and make money off of, but showing stuff that is already readily available on television isn't one of them.

That's just my non-technical two cents.