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Author Topic: My DLP Experience... Steve Maggs Film Handler Posts: 22 From: Brisbane , Australia Registered: Apr 2000 posted 11-27-2006 08:48 PM                     We have a Christie 2k projector in our largest auditorium at the Hawthorne Cinemas in Brisbane, Australia. It was installed in November of 2005. We have a limited supply of digital movies so the original 35mm set up is still in use. In fact we have only had about 5 digital movies in that time. We have a 56ft curved screen in that auditorium (which seats 510 people) and the digital image looks great. We did have some issues when it was first used with Narnia. A lot of the images were too dark, especially night scenes. This has all been attended too and the image is now excellent.  |  IP: Logged Jack Ondracek Film God Posts: 2348 From: Port Orchard, WA, USA Registered: Oct 2002 posted 11-27-2006 09:07 PM                        One of the things that has always bothered me when someone comments about how much better digital is than film... is whether the comparison is made between a properly specced, aligned and operated film system and digital, or a projector that has detiorated because the owner knows it will be replaced (or is just cheap). In that event, a new digital projector can not fail to look magnificent. However, it's not a fair comparison in that case, and I can't see how it can fairly be used to justify the conversion. I don't recall anyone here saying (believably) that they had the best that film could offer, yet their conversion to digital resulted in a quantifiable increase in presentation quality.  |  IP: Logged Bobby Henderson "Ask me about Trajan." Posts: 10973 From: Lawton, OK, USA Registered: Apr 2001 posted 11-28-2006 12:40 AM                     I'm not willing to say the picture quality with digital projection is simply better than 35mm. There are variables involved. If the movie is put through a 2K digital intermediate process in post production, then the imagery is already going through a resolution bottleneck. That would leave 2K digital projection having better odds on putting on the better quality show. If the DI is 4K, a 2K D-Cinema setup could pale against a well maintained 35mm booth. 35mm film done right would beat digital projection handily on image quality if you have something like a movie shot in true anamorphic 'scope and the 35mm prints are derived only from film-based sources. In other words, a print making process without any resolution bottlenecks like those posed by 2K digital intermediates. In the matter of audio, I do believe D-Cinema has a noticeable edge over the lossy compressed surround formats on 35mm film. The difference is most noticeable on music quality.  |  IP: Logged Ron Curran Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 504 From: Springwood NSW Australia Registered: Feb 2006 posted 11-28-2006 05:33 PM                        Australian cinema owners have received a promo package from Skytech systems and I am curious to check out some of its contents. The main thrust is that DCI at 2K is 2048 x 1080 lines of resolution for $100,000+, while their 1.3K system is 1920 x 1080 for under $20,000. Further, they contend that those dc systems are sitting idle while a growing number of distributors providing digital files for 1.3K. Also, they say that they can supply 1920/1080 today and offer DCI compliant upgrades next year. There’s more, of course but has any other cinema owner checked this out?  |  IP: Logged Dustin Mitchell Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1865 From: Mondovi, WI, USA Registered: Mar 2000 posted 11-28-2006 05:53 PM                     I'm not an owner Ron and I'm in the US so I can't really help to much with your specific situation. all I can say is that our medium sized market has had no problem getting plenty of digital content for our 6 Christies CP-2000's. AFAIK, all of said content has been 2K and not 1.3K.  |  IP: Logged Ron Curran Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 504 From: Springwood NSW Australia Registered: Feb 2006 posted 11-28-2006 06:24 PM                        Dustin, you raise an interesting issue regarding the take-up of dc of any K. the decision is not made by film makers, projectionists or audiences. So this topic is on Ground Level. It seems that, as a cinema showing a fair proportion of non-mainstram films, we will become increasingly reliant on digital files. The 1.3 case might stack up for the small exhibitor, with 35mm alongside (just as 16mm prints provided independent film makers with an alternative). Two things continue to disturb me about electronic cinema. The capital cost is dismissed on the grounds that increased advertising revenue will result and their native format is 16 x 9. IMHO that is not a theatrical experience.  |  IP: Logged Bobby Henderson "Ask me about Trajan." Posts: 10973 From: Lawton, OK, USA Registered: Apr 2001 posted 11-28-2006 08:53 PM                     Just about all D-Cinema movies distributed in the US are of 2K standard, with the trend going to JPEG2000 format. The Christie CP2000 can show movies in several different layouts. Its 3-chip DLP array has a native resolution of 2048 X 1080. The most common formats are 1998 X 1080 flat and 2048 X 858 'scope. It can play back standard 1920 X 1080 content as well, and do a number of framings within that layout. When the term "1.3K" is provided, that usually refers to the previous 1280 X 1024 standard of DLP. That old standard is largely no longer supported at all in the United States. The standard "1080p" HDTV format is much closer to 2K than 1.2K or 1.3K. The main technical difference with home HDTV formats is they run at far lower bitrates.  |  IP: Logged Peter Castle Expert Film Handler Posts: 220 From: Wollongong University, NSW ,Australia Registered: Oct 2003 posted 11-30-2006 01:58 AM                     Ron, This is just the next step in e-cinema in Australia. There seems to be no incentive in Australia to go d-cinema, as distributors don't seem to want to fund it - and certainly exhibitors cannot afford to go DCI-compliant. I applaud the move of independent distributors to provide more coverage of distribution by providing digital prints of 'not quite mainstream' films. I am saddened however that, because most exhibitors are using 1.3K projectors, often 1-chip DLP and now often 16:9 projectors of 1365x768 resolution, that this seems to be the upper end of the resolution of these digital prints. We've shown "Sophie Scholl" and "Kenny" this way with print resolutions of 1280x720 upscaled to anamorphic 1365x1024. What Ray (Derrick) is now doing with his Panamedia HD2000 is to provide the opportunity of making higher resolution servers financially viable - maybe encouraging exhibitors to install higher res projectors. The upgrade path he is providing is to JPEG2000 and DCI compliance if and when local distributors start providing DCI-compliant prints. (Ask Leo Catalano about availability of DCI in Australia.) Here's my further question. Panasonic now have a 1920x1080 projector at 10,000 lumens. Why, oh why, is that not acceptable to the DCI guardians - except for it not pandering to the security paranoid.  |  IP: Logged Steve Guttag We forgot the crackers Gromit!!! Posts: 12814 From: Annapolis, MD Registered: Dec 1999 posted 11-30-2006 11:32 AM                     First off...it would need to have 2048 x 1080 capability and it MUST have link decryption for DCI minimum...even the 1.3K projectors had that. We will see where this DCI business shakes out. Steve  |  IP: Logged Louis Bornwasser Film God Posts: 4441 From: prospect ky usa Registered: Mar 2005 posted 12-02-2006 07:56 AM                        Digital in Australia: I thought the whole purpose of D-TV is lower freight costs/print costs. Could not 50 D-Cin prints be put into a box and air cargoed to Aussie-land?? We seem to have plenty here in the US and I'm sure planes leave every day. Louis  |  IP: Logged

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