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This topic comprises 2 pages: 1 2
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Author
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Topic: Sin City DLP
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Aaron Haney
Master Film Handler
Posts: 265
From: Cupertino, CA, USA
Registered: Jan 2001
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posted 04-05-2005 11:59 PM
The Century 22 in San Jose had its DLP house installed for Star Wars Episode II. At that time, Texas Instruments had not yet released a 2K version of their DLP technology. 1280x1024 was the max resolution. Unless it has been upgraded since then, the Century 22 auditorium is still showing material at 1280x1024.
I've seen two movies presented in DLP there, Episode II (scope) and Spy Kids 2 (flat). In both cases, pixels were clearly visible, even when sitting in the back half of the theater. Also, I noticed heat waves drifting across the image during Episode II. This was despite the fact that I could see through the booth port glass that the DLP unit had a much larger ventilation conduit reaching up into the ceiling than the 35mm unit.
I've not yet seen Sin City in DLP, but I have seen in it 35mm. To me, it looks as though Efilm did a very good job transferring the movie (which from what I understand is entirely at 2K resolution) to 35mm. I believe the film prints are showing every last pixel. For example, I could see jagged edges on the slanted letters of the word "films" in the Dimension Films logo at the end. The only way I could see that is if every single pixel of the image were being faithfully reproduced in the film print. Based on MTF numbers for today's 35mm print stocks, this is easily possible (and in fact would still be possible even if the original material in question were 4K instead of 2K).
Given the fact that the vast majority of theatrical DLP installations are of the older 1280x1024 variety, it's likely one will actually be seeing more detail in 35mm than in DLP.
And I haven't even touched on the issue of dynamic range (as others have mentioned), an area in which film has an even greater advantage.
I will probably head over to the Century 22 sometime soon and check out Sin City in DLP for comparison's sake. Unfortunately, Century's website does not list which showtimes are for DLP. ![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
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Dominic Espinosa
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1172
From: California, U.S.A.
Registered: Jan 2004
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posted 04-11-2005 06:01 PM
Sin City, on 35mm and my first glimpse at the 2wenty...
Regal Regency 7 in Merced, CA.
Auditorium #6
Crappy DTS and Crapier SR
The 2wenty seemed a little like the source was clipping, but yet it wasn't that loud. Just slightly distorted though. I like the idea but I think it's poorly executed.
The show started on time and as the previews rolled (without rolling stock amazingly) I realised something was wrong...
The picture was off the screen up top with shadows on the bottom and sides, that was disgusting.
And my favorite...The SR was so rediculously configured. It was a.) very very quiet and b.) distorted. There was absolutely no bass and every time a loudish scene (such as the action shots in the War of the Worlds preview) hit the sound would just clip so bad.
I walked out and told the manager on duty that there was an issue with the sound in there. He told me it's because some of the previews aren't actually in digital sound.
I told him I'm a projection manager at another theater and that it's not because it's in analog. I told him it's probably the optical preamp or a failing LED. I'm of course not sure of this, I havn't seen their booth in years so I can't be more specific and I'm not much of a sound tech.
Whatever. I doubt it'll get fixed.
My peve? The DTS wasn't much louder. I never once heard ANYTHING out of the surrounds, and there was a rediculous annoying pop out of the right screen chanell every 20 seconds throughout the entire feature!
But I digress...The feature wasn't scratched, the picture was bright, and the projector didn't shake too much.
Though the reflected light off the WHITE ceiling and the light on the screen from the house lights that never dimmed were a bit annoying.
In the end, what I saw of the 2wenty was really not that impressive in terms of image quality. It was sharp and steady but the colors weren't very well managed. It was like watching one of those hard-on-the-eyes LCD tv's.
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Aaron Haney
Master Film Handler
Posts: 265
From: Cupertino, CA, USA
Registered: Jan 2001
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posted 04-19-2005 09:55 PM
Mike: Thanks, I forgot to check Fandango. Interesting that it has the information, while Century's own site does not.
Paul: Can you point me to some of the past threads that might have discussed the heat wave phenomenon? Any info would be appreciated.
I did not mean to imply they are particular to DLP or any other type of projection system. I certainly don't think they are coming off the DLP chips themselves or anything like that. However, that DLP screening in the Century 22 was the only time I have ever witnessed them. Not even in the very same auditorium during 35mm presentations have I seen them, before or since.
To clarify, what I saw was a focused image of heat waves on the screen. I did not see heat waves themselves in front of me, merely an image or shadow of them on the screen. Doesn't the fact that it was a focused image mean they must have been occuring in the air somewhere relatively close the projector lens? And is not the biggest source of heat in that vicinity going to undoubtedly be the projector lamp? I was hypothesizing that the source of the heat waves was excessive heat and inadequate ventilation in the booth. The only connection I was trying to make between that and DLP was merely the fact that DLP typically requires a larger lamp than 35mm for the same size screen, which might exacerbate such a problem. Other than that, I did not think there was any direct connection between DLP and the heat waves.
As to your second question: no, I am not looking for pixels. I really would rather not see them. In addition to the Century 22 in San Jose, I've seen DLP presentations in NYC, San Francisco, and Plano, TX. In each case, I've always been able to see the pixels. Not in every shot, but in brighter areas of the picture they really stand out. This is without any sort of deliberate searching on my part. The eye is very good at edge detection -- sharp boundaries such as those between pixels tend to draw attention.
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Aaron Haney
Master Film Handler
Posts: 265
From: Cupertino, CA, USA
Registered: Jan 2001
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posted 04-26-2005 01:14 AM
Thanks for the links, Paul. Yes, I think I actually saw DLP in two different auditoriums at the Legacy. Once was "Toy Story 2", and another time was "Ocean's Eleven". I'd like to see how things look now that you have a 2K setup. Next time I'm in town I'll see if I can catch something.
I finally caught Sin City in DLP at the Century 22 in San Jose this weekend. I sat a little more than 3/4ths the way back in the auditorium. It looked pretty nice. The contrast was better than I expected, and the pixels were not very apparent this time. I did notice very thin horizontal lines in the credits had a flickery appearance as they scrolled up. I suppose this might be a scaling artifact (the movie started life at 2K and had to be scaled down to the projector's native resolution, resulting in a some unwanted oddities). I also saw some slight video compresion problems in the form of banding in smooth gradients. Overall I'd say it's kind of a toss-up between that and 35mm. They both looked quite good, with no serious drawbacks to either.
There were only a few trailers: I remember "The Lords of Dogtown" looked very nice with all its bright outdoor scenery and strong colors. "House of Wax" did not look good at all, the contrast was almost nonexistant. There was a short Christie digital projection snipe before the feature that I don't recall seeing last time I was there (for "Spy Kids 2"). Perhaps this is a new projector?
Unrelated to the picture, there was a serious audio problem with this presentation. The front-right channel was cutting out. In fact, I think it was actually out for most of the feature. The only time I did hear anything from that channel it was accompanied by a crackling noise, as though there were a loose connection somewhere. During the end credits, I walked very close to the screen and confirmed that there really did not appear to be much, if any, sound coming out of the front-right channel.
[ 04-26-2005, 09:30 PM: Message edited by: Aaron Haney ]
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