|
|
 
|
|
Author
|
Topic: DCinema equipment lifespan - why so short?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."
Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001
|
posted 04-19-2008 04:00 PM
quote: Ron Funderburg
I actually don't agree with him on that unless the local owners are forced to chose between overpriced, low quality out put digital equipment, or not being in business.
I think that description of 2K d-cinema is painted with a little too broad a brush stroke.
35mm film projection does have the capability to look better than 2K digital cinema. But only if you have equipment that is good enough to offer that capability and if it is set up and maintained correctly.
Countless thousands of 35mm film based movie theaters fail in those variables of equipment quality, set up and maintenance.
Drive down to Lawton to see an example of this at work.
The Carmike 8 in Lawton has all eight screens equipped with the standard 2K Christie/AccessIT package. Dickinson Theaters' 12-plex at Central Mall is running 35mm film only. The projection quality at the Carmike theater is quite a lot better.
The problem is the folks who used to own Central Mall paid for that 12-plex to get built. And they cut every damned corner possible. I can't even tell what cheap-ass brand of film projector they put in that theater, only that I've been told they were made in the Czech republic or something of that sort. Nonetheless, the projection quality is not very good at all. You never really get a good, sharp level of focus. And as small as those screens are, one would think the picture could be brighter.
Dickinson later bought back this theater, but haven't really made any improvements.
When the Carmike 8 was running film, their projection quality was very good. The imagery was appropriately bright and sharp. If the movie was the slightest bit grainy you would see the grain in the image without any problem. The Simplex 35 projectors and Strong X90 consoles they were using are all still up in the booth. 2 are still in service with Christie DLP projectors installed alongside. I'm no projection expert, but I do know enough that Schneider Super Cinelux lenses are not cheap and are generally held in pretty high regard. Finally, the manager at the Carmike 8 has always stayed on top of maintenance issues with the sound and projection there. He has managed the place since it opened in 1994.
The Central Mall 12 doesn't handle film as well as the Carmike 8 did. If Dickinson changed to digital projection there (and installed 5.1 surround on 10 of the 12 theaters that need it) it would be a big improvement.
At the Carmike, digital had a slight trade off. I think the image quality is a little bit softer or not quite as detailed as the film projection was there. But it is totally steady. No sideweave or anything like that. And that sound quality is a bit improved by way of using uncompressed LPCM rather than lossy DTS.
Oh, forgot to mention this: if the movie is like so many these days -rendered in digital intermediate at only 2K of resolution you will not see anything more in terms of detail by showing it in film.
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
|
|
Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."
Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001
|
posted 04-20-2008 12:29 PM
Theaters are theaters. The quality of any location is largely determined by the quality of management working at the place. It's not fair at all to lump all chain theaters into one group and all small town independents into another group. The reality is just not that simple.
Carmike Cinemas on the whole earned a pretty bad reputation over the years. However certain managers that actually cared about how their location was run managed to lift their theaters above the usual average. IMHO, the Carmike location in Lawton is a good example of that.
When Carmike decided to convert nearly all of their first run theaters to digital projection they made a smart move overall. A number of maintenance issues with projection (and possibly audio) were taken out of the hands of theater managers -whether they were paying attention to those issues or not. Presentation quality, circuit wide, is better. It may not be quite as good as 35mm film done right, but the quality is noticeably better than it was in the past.
Some small town, independent theater operators are progressively minded. I was impressed to find THX-certified theaters in tiny towns like Cordele, Oklahoma and Canadian, Texas (out in the panhandle). I don't know how that was able to happen considering the cost. Maybe the owners of those two theaters have a lot of oil money to throw around or something. Or maybe it still balanced out based on what they were earning at the box office and concessions counter.
Warren Theaters is not a big chain at all either. Bill Warren owns and operates three theaters in Wichita, Kansas and now has a new one in Moore, Oklahoma. His theaters are designed and equipped far better than the typical multiplex locations from any major national chain.
quote: Ron Funderburg
Local owners tend to not be rich, they don't drive expensive cars, or spend their money on vice they give to their church and community. They tend to treat their employees better than the big chains.
The local owner more often than not, is involved in the community development, the chamber of commerce and supports the schools and the youth organizations.
Those are very generalized statements. I've seen plenty of exceptions to them. The Carmike manager here in Lawton is involved in the community and his church. He's a good guy and many of his former employees come back to visit him. One of his former employees, a guy named T.W. Shannon, is running for a seat in the Oklahoma State House of Representatives.
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
|
|
Tristan Lane
Master Film Handler
Posts: 444
From: Nampa, Idaho
Registered: Feb 2002
|
posted 04-21-2008 02:54 AM
I feel that the subject matter being discussed is controversial and very personal to many people on these forums. I'm guessing that when platters were adopted on a wide spread basis, the same type of debates took place. Any big change within an industry presents a challenge to many people.
For the sake of everyone who would like to gain something from the discussion that started this thread, lets all try to avoid taking pot-shots at one another's abilities, knowledge, experience, or quality of workmanship. We all possess experience that has shaped our opinions and feelings on certain subjects. Everyone's comments are worth something, whether another agrees or not. Many comments carry a certain bias that leans towards their personal feelings. Regardless, they still add to the discussion. Many of us only know each other by reading posts on this forum, and that can mean a lot. Based on recent comments, it is my observation that some members are now taking this personal, and feel the need to call others into question. Why?
Inflammitory comments regarding another technician's skills, abilities or workmanship based simply on what your have read in this thread (and disagree with) is totally uncalled for.
Could we please get back on topic?
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
All times are Central (GMT -6:00)
|
This topic comprises 11 pages: 1 2 3 ... 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
|
Powered by Infopop Corporation
UBB.classicTM
6.3.1.2
The Film-Tech Forums are designed for various members related to the cinema industry to express their opinions, viewpoints and testimonials on various products, services and events based upon speculation, personal knowledge and factual information through use, therefore all views represented here allow no liability upon the publishers of this web site and the owners of said views assume no liability for any ill will resulting from these postings. The posts made here are for educational as well as entertainment purposes and as such anyone viewing this portion of the website must accept these views as statements of the author of that opinion
and agrees to release the authors from any and all liability.
|
Home
![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif)
![[thumbsup]](graemlins/thumbsup.gif)
. Please show me where I said ALL local theater owners are greedy. I said "We service greedy local owners"... now no matter how much you may want to believe that there are no local greedy owners there are very definately many of them out there. Until you have been in and walked in my shoes you have no general idea what the owners I do work for are like... you only know the one you work for. I don't personally know any owner that attends church as thats none of my buisness... however some of them may very well attend and some of them do run films and create local programs in cooperation with local schools and other kids groups... but they still make money doing so. Large chains do all this stuff to in many areas of the country as well. I had lots of great customers back in the midwest and I have alot of great customers out in this neck of the woods. I have also been subjected to many, many greedy theater owners in small towns both out here and back in the midwest that bilk every dime out of the theater until its so dirty or run down that the health department won't allow it to open. This was somewhat common in Chicago and one reason why many Chicago area theaters are gone.
![[Confused]](confused.gif)
Printer-friendly view of this topic