posted 12-23-2014 11:45 AM                    

quote: Paul Gordon

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Of note IMAX had been testing the new Laser projection system at the closed Cinesphere in Toronto over the last year.

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So I guess IMAX had the first laser installation?

posted 12-23-2014 11:51 AM                    

quote: Marcel Birgelen

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Yeah, the Barco DP4K-60L also uses external light sources. Having seen both the current Barco and Christie laser projectors, I don't understand why the Barco machine is such a bulky beast, given the fact that both use external light sources fed trough fibers.

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posted 12-23-2014 11:52 AM                    

quote: Paul Gordon

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Of note IMAX had been testing the new Laser projection system at the closed Cinesphere in Toronto over the last year.

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So I guess IMAX had the first laser installation?

quote: Paul Gordon

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Interested to see what kind of images it will produce.

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If you are in the Toronto area you can see for yourself (and hear for yourself ), the Scotiabank now has it installed. There is an IMAX engineer at the facility doing tests during my screening. There is a lot of Dolby technology used for this system. Also, there is some Dolby advertising included with the IMAX branding.

posted 12-25-2014 05:00 PM                    

quote: Kris Verhanneman

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The DP4K-60L doesn't use external light sources. It are just a few tubes to cool down the lasers. The fridge and projector arn't even noisy.

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Thanks for the clarification, it explains a lot. It's a little confusing, because there are exactly three tubes if I remember correctly. I didn't know the big box was just a chiller and not the RGB light sources themselves, but this explains the bulkiness of the DP4K-60L.

P.S.: I guess Barco must be somewhat disappointed you went for Atmos for your Ultra concept rather than Auro 3D .

posted 12-26-2014 01:06 PM                    

quote: Terry Lynn-Stevens was the last to post

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So I guess IMAX had the first laser installation?

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posted 12-26-2014 06:03 PM                    

quote: Carsten Kurz

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Actually there are six tubes to/from the chiller. And yes, it does look very much like the Christie solution at first until you notice these six tubes can not be fibres.

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Which makes sense too, because you really want to circulate your cooling liquid I guess .

quote: Carsten Kurz

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I assume the basic light output of these machines is about the same, around 60.000-70.000 lumens, but the Christie can output this luminous flux simultaneously from both projector heads, practically doubling it for 3D applications?

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I've not yet seen a 3D movie in production on the Barco machine. I've seen 3D content on a demo setup, but the brightness didn't really blow me away. I will give the Kinepolis setup in Antwerpen or Brussels a try shortly, so I can do my own rather subjective comparisons.

The Christie Dual 3D setup is the first production setup which I've seen which will really deliver 3D at the brightness of 2D on a large screen.

Additionally, the wider color gamut pictures look really great, but not cinematic at all. Maybe it's the ideal platform for computer games on giant screens .

posted 12-27-2014 05:06 AM                    

quote: Carsten Kurz

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Is that screen size documented?

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My direct comparison would be JT Kerkrade against the Dolby Cinema setup in Eindhoven.

Auditorium 1 JT Kerkrade (XD PLF concept):
2 x Barco DP4K-32B
Circular polarized 3D using a silver screen
Roughly 24x10m ~ 240 sqm

Auditorium 6 JT Eindhoven (Dolby Cinema):
Christie 6P dual projector setup
Dolby 3D
Roughly 20x12m ~ 240 sqm

For the record, both screens feature Dolby Atmos.

Obviously, the screen in Kerkrade is a scope screen, so it loses some light if fully covered and has a smaller surface than the screen in Eindhoven for features presented in flat.

I’ve not seen the new Kinepolis setup using the single a DP4K-60L for 3D presentations.

The screen in Kerkrade is sufficiently bright for standard 2D presentations, but nothing to write home about. There is some hotspotting, but you need to look for it to see it. There are some reflections of exit lights on the screen, which are more troublesome.

For 3D presentations, the brightness is just acceptable and really not that great. It’s the best you can do with conventional Xenon bulbs or you need to add another two projectors to the setup, which will cause you quite some headaches, as Barco doesn’t currently offer a seamless convergence solution for their DCI gear.

Also, there’s always some noticeable crosstalk, especially in the ever-present subtitling.

The Dolby Cinema setup has already a few advantages built into the design of the auditorium. The dark, paneled walls, the plain white screen and the almost complete absence of other ambient light bouncing off the screen will create a larger contrast to begin with. So, the comparison might be an objective one, based on all factors, but still the difference for 3D is night and day, compared to the setup in Kerkrade. For 2D, it’s not really that obvious. The picture surely is bright, but nothing you couldn’t recreate on a somewhat smaller screen using a powerful projector like the DP4K-32B.

The Kinepolis screens in Brussels and Antwerpen are both about 23x10m, so a comparison would be based on roughly the same screen sizes.

Comparisons are obviously subjective, but in the end the perceptions of the average visitor is the thing that counts most.