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Author Topic: AMC's ETX system question Chase Pickett Expert Film Handler Posts: 142 From: Irving, Texas, USA Registered: Nov 2010 posted 03-04-2011 02:45 AM                     quote: Bobby Henderson The native channel layout of the movie soundtrack is what really determines the channel layout. Nearly all are just 5.1. It doesn't matter how many amps and speakers are thrown at it it's still only 5.1. That's why I said I don't think we will ever need that many channels. We have the CAPABILITY to utilize that many when we do get a feature mixed in 11.1.  |  IP: Logged Bobby Henderson "Ask me about Trajan." Posts: 10973 From: Lawton, OK, USA Registered: Apr 2001 posted 03-04-2011 10:43 AM                     quote: Tom Petrov Filmjournal.com is reporting that ETX is five stage/screen channels, six surround, two low-frequency. It doesn't matter what line of Regal's marketing bullshit Filmjournal is willing to swallow, it's still bullshit. Despite its capabilities that system is still, at best, only presenting 5.1 channel audio, with 7.1 in some rare cases. The movie's sound mix determines that. The claim of extra channels is a marketing lie. Until movies are natively mixed in 9.1, 10.2, 11.1 or whatever channel layouts the "extra channels" in these over-priced fake IMAX, fake THX concept theaters will be like tits on a bull: pointless. To go to an extreme example, you could put together a "4096.64 channel" sound system with so much hardware you couldn't fit it all into Cowboys Stadium. Nevertheless, if you're presenting Hollywood movies through it you're only listening to 5.1 or 7.1 content at best. Get the point yet? Here's another one, a HDTV analogy. Does the HDTV hardware make anything shown on it "HDTV"? Hell no. Many people have only SD-quality signals fed into their flat screen HD capable TV sets -whether it's SD quality cable/broadcast signals or video from a DVD player. Worse yet, they have the SD picture stretched to fill the screen. The HDTV hardware doesn't magically convert any of that SD material into HD. If anything, big flat panel HDTV sets make a SD quality video signal look even more shitty than it did on an old NTSC CRT picture tube TV. Extra features in hardware are nothing if the software/media being played through it wasn't created to take specific advantage of those features. So any movie theater claiming to show movies in "9.1 surround" is lying its ass off to customers. quote: Chase Pickett That's why I said I don't think we will ever need that many channels. We have the CAPABILITY to utilize that many when we do get a feature mixed in 11.1. Hell may freeze before that happens. The DTS-XD10 processor, with a couple card upgrades, would allow for more than 8 channels of audio. No movies were ever mixed to take advantage of the capability. Digital cinema can handle up to something like 16 channels of audio. Yet it has taken the Blu-ray format on home video to push movie theaters into offering 7.1 audio with a four surround channel layout. A type of lethargy has set in with movie productions on pushing movie audio any farther past its current capabilities.  |  IP: Logged Chris Slycord Film God Posts: 2986 From: 청주시, 경북도, South Korea Registered: Mar 2007 posted 03-04-2011 11:59 AM                     quote: Bobby Henderson It doesn't matter what line of Regal's marketing bullshit Filmjournal is willing to swallow I'd be surprised if Regal would market ETX for AMC.  |  IP: Logged Joe Redifer You need a beating today Posts: 12859 From: Denver, Colorado Registered: May 99 posted 03-04-2011 01:19 PM                        Yeah, but Regal dishes out the same bullshit with RPX. It's easy to get all of the acronyms confused when all the bullshit smells the same. The thing is, though, with RPX, Regal claims to be doing some matrixing bullshit to fill the extra channels with sound. AMC may be doing the same. If I were a sound mixer, I'd be bitching about that. Definitely not as it was intended to be heard.  |  IP: Logged Bobby Henderson "Ask me about Trajan." Posts: 10973 From: Lawton, OK, USA Registered: Apr 2001 posted 03-04-2011 03:26 PM                     It would be really funny if they played a Woody Allen movie in one of these XD-RPX-ETX-XXX-OMG-PMS theaters. A mono mix faked into "9.1" surround. Um, yeah.  |  IP: Logged Jonathan Goeldner Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1360 From: Washington, District of Columbia Registered: Jun 2008 posted 03-21-2011 05:30 PM                     I saw 'Battle: Los Angeles" this morning at AMC Tysons Corner on their new ETX screen and my impression is a bit mixed. The image seemed brightened too much - the white lettering throughout the movie came across as hazy and a tad out of focused, as well as the black levels not as deep as I had hoped - for a ETX setup with a Christie DLP system it came as a let down on the visual side. However on the sound - unreal!, while the film's mix is aggressive, okay, that's an understatement, the volume never drowned out the bad dialogue, and all the gunplay and explosions had tremendous power and intensity, the bass seemed tight and with certain key scenes, it sounded to drop down several octaves - numerous times, the bass literally rocked the floor under my feet. The ears had a roller coaster ride, the eyes and brain on the other hand were set on standby.  |  IP: Logged Joe Redifer You need a beating today Posts: 12859 From: Denver, Colorado Registered: May 99 posted 03-21-2011 07:26 PM                        There is an ETX screen up in some northern town at a mall called Flatirons but I just can't seem to generate any ambition to see it. Maybe when (or if) they ever get a decent movie in that auditorium I'll make the trip, but so far nothing this year has been worth seeing.  |  IP: Logged Brad Miller Administrator Posts: 17775 From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall) Registered: May 99 posted 03-21-2011 07:51 PM                     Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2 opens next week Joe.  |  IP: Logged Edward Havens Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 614 From: Los Angeles, CA Registered: Mar 2008 posted 03-22-2011 02:36 AM                     Effing Flatiron Crossing. I hate that place with a passion only reserved for Dennis Kucinich and Andie MacDowell.  |  IP: Logged Chase Pickett Expert Film Handler Posts: 142 From: Irving, Texas, USA Registered: Nov 2010 posted 03-22-2011 03:05 PM                     Hey now I'm the lead projectionist at Flatirons Crossing. Why the utter hatred? But as far as audio goes, no blending or channel smearing goes on in the system we use. If the DCP is mixed in 5.1 it plays in 5.1, or if it's mixed in 7.1 then we play it in 7.1, and so on. If there is a feature mixed in mono it will play in mono. Long story short is I select which audio format the feature is mixed in and use just those channels. Lower mixes do not get blended into other channels.  |  IP: Logged Joe Redifer You need a beating today Posts: 12859 From: Denver, Colorado Registered: May 99 posted 03-22-2011 04:25 PM                        Sounds like it beats Regal's RPX right there.  |  IP: Logged Todd McCracken Master Film Handler Posts: 263 From: Northridge, CA, USA Registered: Mar 2008 posted 03-22-2011 08:13 PM                    I cant wait to see the new laser projectors. Big screens and lumen's should not be an issue. Though I have yet to see the pricing on the units they should be awesome for outdoor projection (drive ins) to boot Of course I don't think I will hold my breath for AMC or Regal to swap out their newly purchased Sony 4k units anytime soon.  |  IP: Logged Edward Havens Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 614 From: Los Angeles, CA Registered: Mar 2008 posted 03-28-2011 10:50 AM                     I'm talking about the whole effing, soulless mall.  |  IP: Logged

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