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Topic: Movie-Theater Chains Take On IMAX

Brad Miller
Administrator

Posts: 17775
From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall)
Registered: May 99

posted 12-31-2013 12:51 PM

quote: Terry Lynn-Stevens
I think it would be easy for the studios to cut a DCP trailer with the tagline "See it in AVX" for one chain or "See it in AMC Prime" at another.

You need to be taken out back and beaten for even thinking that. there are ENOUGH damn versions of trailers as it is these days! Why ONE movie must have over 50 trailers is just asinine.

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Gordon McLeod
Film God

Posts: 9532
From: Toronto Ontario Canada
Registered: Jun 99

posted 12-31-2013 02:45 PM

In the original IMAX sound configuration it was 6 channel being screen left centre right and top
left surround righ surround
sub was a sum from the 4 stage channels

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Scott Jentsch
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1061
From: New Berlin, WI, USA
Registered: Apr 2003

posted 12-31-2013 03:34 PM

Back in 2010, I wrote an article called IMAX Getting Competition from Many Directions - But Are the Alternatives Really Better?, which coincided with the push by many chains toward what is now starting to be called PLF.

It's a long article, so I won't quote the entire thing here, but this is the start of it:

quote:
With the recent announcement by Regal Cinemas of their new RPX: Regal Premium Experience, IMAX is seeing more and more competition for the wallets of ticket-buying moviegoers.

AMC has their new ETX "Enhanced Theater Experience" screen that will be available soon in California. Cinemark has been opening XD auditoriums left and right, with 22 cities done so far, and more planned. Marcus Theatres was one of the first of the big chains to offer a big-screen alternative to IMAX with their UltraScreens, of which there are now 12 locations in seven states.

All of these promise the paying public an upgraded movie-watching experience, and none of them are limited to the schedule of IMAX-converted movies, and none of them have to pay a licensing fee to IMAX.

I put in some historical background behind IMAX going mainstream, and then bring up the fact that the new RPX screen at the Regal E-Walk 13 in New York City was roughly the same size as the nearby AMC Empire 25's IMAX screen, both of which fell into the same screen size as the target of the infamous "LieMAX" rant by Aziz Ansari.

The final section compared the single IMAX screen here in Milwaukee with the "UltraScreen" PLF that is being done by Marcus Theatres.

quote:
The two UltraScreens at the Marcus Majestic Brookfield in Waukesha both measure 72 feet wide by 31 feet high (which comes to approximately 2.35:1). For a non-3D evening show, an adult will pay $11.00 for general seating.

In comparison, the AMC Mayfair Mall 18 in Wauwatosa (about 15 minutes away) has a new IMAX screen that measures 50 feet wide by 26.5 feet high, which is about 41% smaller than the Marcus UltraScreens. The current price for a non-3D adult evening ticket costs $14.50.

Marcus is definitely offering a value-packed proposition here. The ticket price is $3.50 less and you get a bigger picture. The 24,000 watt sound system can probably keep up nicely with that in the IMAX auditorium, and Marcus also recently upgraded the UltraScreens for 3D projection.

If more movie theaters were to follow Marcus' lead, IMAX would have even more to worry about!

It's great that there is competition in the big-screen market at movie theaters. However, we feel that audiences should get more bang for their hard-earned dollars than what we're seeing announced as alternatives to the IMAX experience. Since the audience is in control (we have the money that theaters want), we need to demand the best possible experiences for that money!

Nearly four years later, and I'm happy to see that the article is still pretty applicable, maybe even more so now.

The current issue of considering "PLF" as a quasi-brand is that it means something different from chain to chain, and probably from location to location within the same chain. Some have Atmos, some have Auro, some are just 5.1, some have dual projectors, some have 2K, some have 4K, etc. You never know what you're going to get.

IMAX has at least done that a little better in defining the sound and picture specifications, with the biggest variant being the screen size. When it comes to IMAX presentations, I would assume dual digital projectors, and roughly a 50-60 foot wide screen. Anything more is a bonus, much like have a Quarter Pounder at the McDonalds HQ restaurant (which was an incredible burger, and I don't like McD's).

Since the chains aren't forthcoming with that information, it's up to the viewers to rely on third-party information. That's largely why I created the Reader Comments section for movie theaters, so that people could share that kind of information, and maybe in some way, pressure the theaters into better experiences. We currently have comments for 684 out of the 6,159 active theaters in the U.S., so it's a good start, but I'd like to see even more.

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Pravin Ratnam
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 844
From: Atlanta, GA,USA
Registered: Sep 2002

posted 12-31-2013 03:58 PM

Scott, if we want to contribute stats to the Atlanta section of your bigscreen site, how do I go about getting screen sizes for the local theaters? Example: I frequent the Regal chains because I get their discount tickets for $7. Do I just ask the managers? Or is there a better way of getting screen size, projector types used in different auditoriums of the complex.

It would be cool to make this site or SCott's site a consumer reports of movie theaters and have light brightness readings, screen sizes, projector resolutions, sound formats by auditorium.

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Sam D. Chavez
Film God

Posts: 2153
From: Martinez, CA USA
Registered: Aug 2003

posted 12-31-2013 04:13 PM

It was a long time ago. Maybe the sound transfer was too high for some adjacent space.

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Terry Lynn-Stevens
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1081
From: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Registered: Dec 2012

posted 12-31-2013 04:30 PM

quote: Scott Jentsch
The current issue of considering "PLF" as a quasi-brand is that it means something different from chain to chain, and probably from location to location within the same chain. Some have Atmos, some have Auro, some are just 5.1, some have dual projectors, some have 2K, some have 4K, etc. You never know what you're going to get.

I read your article, great article and interesting. I think the PLF challenge is here and full on with IMAX. And in a way they are competing for the sake of having a luxury/premium theatre and to raise the price of the ticket.

Personally, none of these PLF knock off auditoriums can challenge IMAX when watching a movie in a classic purpose built IMAX theatre. I am lucky enough to have three within driving distance but unfortunately they have been transitioned to digital. For big event movies, these three theatres in my area is the place to be.

I am not a big fan of the IMAX MPX conversion for digital.

The premium experience at a movie is finally here and the prices will probably keep going up, AVX, VIP and IMAX all combined account for 30% of the box office admissions in Canada for Cineplex. VIP tickets are as much as $20 at that is more money than IMAX at a lot of theatres. I take advantage of PLF theatres for the reserved seating and that is about it.

I looked over the Marcus Theatres website, they look like they take presentation and information seriously. Does the Marcus Ultrascreen have masking?

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Pravin Ratnam
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 844
From: Atlanta, GA,USA
Registered: Sep 2002

posted 12-31-2013 08:22 PM

Isn't the whole point of digital to make film distribution much cheaper and efficient. Maybe these theater chains should get together and negotiate better terms so they can put in more money into upgrading more auditoriums while charging customers a more modest surcharge.

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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."

Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001

posted 01-01-2014 03:01 PM

It would be nice if the theater chains went more in that direction. From my perspective it looks like many of them want to price gouge the customer while they can get away with it and perhaps use the private label big screen concept as a means of charging IMAX-like prices without delivering all the specific features that should come along with it.

I looked more closely at the breakdown of IMAX-branded theaters and how they are spread through the movie industry in North America. The numbers are interesting.

United States
AMC has 133 IMAX-branded screens.
Regal has 80 IMAX-branded screens.
Close to 80 IMAX-branded screens are in museums & special venue locations.
The remaining 79 IMAX-branded screens are divided between 25 different theater chains and 3 independent theaters.

CANADA
Cineplex has 19 IMAX-branded screens
Landmark has 5 IMAX-branded screens
Cinemas Guzzo has 3 IMAX-branded screens
10 locations are museum/special venue
Galeries de la Capitale is an independent.

With so much of IMAX' business tied up in AMC & Regal locations I think that leaves considerable room for theater chains who haven't got in bed with IMAX to compete against IMAX Digital on more of a point by point features comparison basis. But that's only if they're willing to one-up what IMAX is doing.

It's going to be relatively easy to beat up on IMAX in terms of sound. A good 7.1 channel system alone will provide a better surround sound experience. Dolby Atmos lifts it up to an entirely different level.

Projection is another matter. IMAX' current setup is mere 2K, which sucks for giant screens, but it is at least a two projector setup. For private label big screens using dual projectors how many have dual 4K projectors? Has any Hollywood studio released a 4K 3D movie yet? I'm under the impression every 3D movie has been strictly 2K. It is going to take a bunch of new technology to deliver 4K 3D? Obviously IMAX must be working on this (provided that this new 4K laser projection system is indeed a dual projector system). Are companies like Christie, Barco, Sony, NEC, etc. going to be able to provide 4K 3D and dual 4K 3D solutions, even laser based?

All of those issues will be important for private label big screen theaters to keep pace with IMAX or surpass it.

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Pravin Ratnam
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 844
From: Atlanta, GA,USA
Registered: Sep 2002

posted 01-01-2014 04:38 PM

I don't even need PLFs to exceed IMAX since their surcharges are less than IMAX's. But if they can reduce the surcharge a tad, and increase the number of PLF screens in each multiplex to 3 or 4 instead of the one they have now, that might improve the average moviegoing experience.

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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."

Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001

posted 01-01-2014 05:18 PM

Private label big screens vary in price by chain and by location. I've seen some charge just as much as IMAX.

Some theater chains are offering more than one premium screen in a complex. The Santikos theater I visited West of Houston last May had four "AVX MAX" screens, all equipped with Dolby Atmos. The rest of the screens in the multiplex were "AVX." I don't know if that really means anything, but I thought it was impressive for a theater to have four screens equipped with Dolby Atmos.

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Mark Gulbrandsen
Resident Trollmaster

Posts: 16657
From: Music City
Registered: Jun 99

posted 01-01-2014 08:21 PM

We have a relatively new Cinemark XD near our house. I much prefer it to the Megaplex Imax stuff that's even closer. At least the Cinemarks XD's are equiped with 4K dlp. I have yet to be impressed by any Imax digital stuff. Only a name it is any more...

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Lyle Romer
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1400
From: Davie, FL, USA
Registered: May 2002

posted 01-02-2014 08:43 AM

quote: Bobby Henderson
For private label big screens using dual projectors how many have dual 4K projectors?

The AMC ETX that I have been in (purely because it was the only way to experience Atmos in driving distance) has 2 4k Sony Projectors.

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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."

Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001

posted 01-02-2014 08:49 AM

I've never watched a movie on a Cinemark XD screen. It's nice they're using 4K Barco DLP projectors on the XD screens, but plenty of standard priced theaters are using single 4K projectors. What does a Cinemark XD screen do to justify a $2.50-$3.00 premium over a regular admission price?

Is Cinemark using two projectors rather than one to maintain proper 3D brightness on giant screens? The XD page on Cinemark's web site mentions "a Barco projector," which makes me think only one projector is being used. For premium priced theaters with giant screens it seems to me like a dual projector setup is kind of a mandatory thing. If I'm going to watch something in 3D via a single projector system I'm going to see much better results on a smaller screen.

Cinemark XD's term "custom digital surround sound" means absolutely nothing to me. I'd prefer specifics about the sound formats being supported (5.1, 7.1, Auro, Atmos) as well as something about the hardware (QSC, Meyer Sound, THX Certfication, etc.). A theater can install the cheapest, low grade speakers and amplifiers and still call it "custom digital surround sound."

According to Cinemark's XD page on their web site they have 91 XD screens, with 5 more set to open soon. They have 15 IMAX branded theater screens, 7 of which were built for 15/70mm prior to the launch of IMAX Digital. It looks to me like they added 8 IMAX Digital screens and then went on a tear installing these XD systems. There are more of these XD screens than any other private label big screen concept. Regal's RPX appears to be in second place with 62 locations.

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Mark Gulbrandsen
Resident Trollmaster

Posts: 16657
From: Music City
Registered: Jun 99

posted 01-02-2014 02:24 PM

Bobby... I haven't been in the booth there yet. Looks to be a single 4K Barco projector with Real-D XL wide angle adaptor on it. The 3-Dee is very bright and sharp, screen is about 75 feet wide. The seating is nicer than in the regular houses, more leg room and the sound is also very nice. Far as I'm concerned it's a much better value than 2K Liemax is. Liemax also costs a lot more than XD. Paul Konen probably knows what they consist of.

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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."

Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001

posted 01-02-2014 04:44 PM

Cinemark's XD theaters have Dolby Atmos at three locations:

Fremont, CA - Cinemark Century at Pacific Commons and XD
San Francisco, CA - Cinemark Century San Francisco Centre 9 and XD
Plano, TX - Cinemark West Plano and XD

I can't tell where Cinemark has Auro 3D 11.1 installed, but according to some press releases easy to find on the Internet Cinemark reportedly has a deal to install Auro 11.1 on all XD theaters except for those three that have Dolby Atmos. They're supposed to start installing in "tier 1" markets sometime soon.

If Cinemark can actually get an acceptably bright 3D image out of a single projector onto a large screen that seems like quite an accomplishment. But we'll see how much of an improvement IMAX makes with its 4K laser-based system.

quote: Lyle Romer
The AMC ETX that I have been in (purely because it was the only way to experience Atmos in driving distance) has 2 4k Sony Projectors.

That's interesting. How bright is the image compared to IMAX Digital? I would ask "how sharp" but AFAIK I don't think any movie studio is making 3D movies in 4K resolution yet.

AMC's 14 ETX screens and 3 Prime/THX screens are all equipped with Dolby Atmos.

Regal has Atmos on 22 of its RPX screens. Regal recently made a deal with Barco & Auro to install Auro 11.1 on 20 of its RPX screens.

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