In the '30s and '40s theatres were much larger, 2500-3000 seats was common, and some were larger than this; our lagest was the Gaumont State, Kilburn at 4004. In these places the screens were quite small, I wasn't around at the time, but looking at old photographs which show the screens, and comparing to the still-existing buildings, I would estimate that many of the screens of this era, in very large theatres, were only about about 6-8 metres wide. While I would agree that an increase in size was desirable, the old screens must have looked very small from the back of the balcony in a place that big, haven't we now gone from one extreme to the other? this place is a relatively small theatre, 700 seats, in the old days the seats were packed in very tightly, so this is probably comparable in sze to an old theatre of maybe 1000-1200 seats, still much smaller than the old super cinemas; why does it need a screen of this size? I would suggest that it is just so they can say that they have a larger screen than somewhere else, possibly anywhere else. This sort of thing is nothing new, I'm sure that at Kilburn they squeezed in a few extra seats, probably with very poor sightlines, just so they could say that the had more than 4000.
I haven't seen the picture at this place, and I have never seen 35mm film, or even 70mm, projected on a screen of this size, but Lionel has used terms such as 'isn't very bright' and 'looks a bit grainy' to desbibe it, and my experience with screens of 15-17 metres suggests that anything much larger would not look good. Would it not be better to have a somewhat smaller picture, say 15 or 18 metres, but brighter, and less grainy? I know which I would rather watch.
Posted by Lionel Fouillen (Member # 1475) on 12-27-2002, 05:09 AM:
Stephen,
From my point of view, the best screen I've seen for conventional 35/70mm projection is the former Odeon Marble Arch in London, which you probably know. It was not too big, yet had the big size required for spectacular Scope and 70mm shows.
I just found more informations about the Kinepolis I was mentioning on their website (but no picture alas):
Seating capacity: 699
Distance from screen to booth: 42m
Distance from screen to first seating row: 12m
Theatre width: 25m
Screen size: 24m x 10m
In this multiplex, which has 16 screens, the smallest screen is 12m x 5m in a 211-seat theatre. But that's just a matter of architecture because they have one more 211-seat theatre where screen size is 14.4m x 6m and the distance from screen to first seating row is 8m.
Posted by Mike Baer (Member # 1519) on 12-27-2002, 06:57 AM:
Lionel
thats right,the most of the Kinepolis Plexes uses Cinemeccanica V5 Consoles and the CNR 3 Platter.
In Madrid and their first plex in Bruxeles is a theater with DLP.
And you are right with the sharpness of the Picture.
Greetings Mike
Posted by Lionel Fouillen (Member # 1475) on 12-27-2002, 07:30 AM:
Mike,
I always thought it was the other way round: the majority of them used Kinoton but Cinemeccanica was used on an exceptional basis.
Anyway, they also say they have a "all-THX / all-JBL / all-DolbyDigital" policy. Can you confirm this?
Thank you.
Posted by Mike Baer (Member # 1519) on 12-27-2002, 10:31 AM:
Lionel,
Yes thats right.All Theatres are THX with JBL Speakers.As you can see at the Kinepolis Trailer before Film.
Posted by David Kilderry (Member # 142) on 12-27-2002, 06:12 PM:
The new Village Knox Multiplex Cinema 1 in Melbourne Australia is called V-Max. It has a screen width of 28.5 meters on scope. It runs a new Cinemeccanica Victoria 8 projector and console and utilises a 10,000 watt xenon lamp. Twelve footlamberts is measured on scope with a slight fall with w/s. Current is at 195 amps and the head is water cooled with refrigerated cooling to be added. The theatre seats 750 and is 70mm equipped - bring on the prints.
To date there has been no evidence of dye migration or emulsion void. The jitter and weave measured is low considering the picture size and the Victoria 8 is quiet and smooth (especially when comparing to Vic 5's). The lamp is changed every 4 weeks to maintain safety, quality and light levels. It utilises a Cinemeccanica platter, but a back-up projector is in place. Sound is Dolby Digital with a CP 650; amps and monitor are QSC. Speakers are Krix with the screen from Harkness Hall. Automation is Pennywise CA 100 with CA link.
To date every session has been full since LOTR Two Towers commenced.
David Kilderry
Posted by Lionel Fouillen (Member # 1475) on 12-28-2002, 03:09 AM:
Looks like an interesting place to see a film! ![[Cool]](cool.gif)
Posted by Michael Brown (Member # 890) on 12-28-2002, 04:07 PM:
Anyone know where the largest screen (35mm) in the UK is?
Is it the Manchester FilmWorks or is there somewhere Larger now?
Plus, am I correct in thinking that (at the time it was built) the 'Full Monty' Screen at Virgin (now UGC) in Sheffield was the largest?
Posted by Thomas Hauerslev (Member # 566) on 12-29-2002, 01:23 AM:
Hey guys, the Spectrum article is here and an article about the RCMH can be found here
And on this page I've listet some of the large screens in Denmark.
Posted by Paul Cunningham (Member # 501) on 01-09-2003, 09:30 PM:
The Village Knox Auditorium #1 is very impressive, it was originally supposed to be 2 auditoriums but they were made into one big one. This is opposite to the normal trend where one big auditorium is split into two smaller ones. Anyone who lives close should go and have a look.
Paul
Posted by Adam Martin (Member # 641) on 01-18-2003, 06:55 PM:
*bump* for German
Posted by Dino Panagiotopoulos (Member # 1579) on 01-28-2003, 10:50 PM:
At the Cineplex Odeon Devonshire cinemas in Windsor, we hold the honour for the biggest 35mm screen in Canada. ![[Eek!]](eek.gif)
Not sure what the precise dimensions were but I will definitely find out.
Posted by Gordon McLeod (Member # 33) on 01-28-2003, 11:01 PM:
I doubt that check the numbers windosr Holiday Inn was a D150 at 75' screen when opened
Cinesphere Ontario Place Scope 35mm is 80' wide
70mm is 84'
Cineplex Queeensway toronto is 70' wide
Posted by Dino Panagiotopoulos (Member # 1579) on 01-28-2003, 11:20 PM:
Gordon, I remember that when we opened 2 years ago we were the biggest. Since then we opened the Queensway and Square One so there is a good chance that one of those theaters could have bigger screen. Im not too sure who the manufacture is but I do know is that the screens for that house come from Belgium (if thats any hint for you). We are also a test theater for a new anti-glare screen which makes the film a little easier on the eyes.
The screen is big but for me, its wayyyy too big and I dont care to watch a movie in that theater just because it makes you dizzy while watching the film.
Posted by Ben Wales (Member # 92) on 01-29-2003, 05:18 PM:
The Largest 35mm picture I know and worked there for a while was the Imax Theatre in Birmingham UK.
A 2.35:1 (scope) picture we had at about 65' wide and the Imax was about 68' wide.
The Odeon where I am now working, still retains a 90' wide screen tabs for Cinerama, but a (small) screen fram at 43' wide was built inside.
Posted by Robert Golding (Member # 746) on 01-29-2003, 06:29 PM:
My screen at the Marysville Drive In is 45' high by 90' wide. It was built in the 60's and as you can see it is a 2 to 1 screen. It should be 45'x135'. I have a very good picture in scope and use 4500 watt xenon bulb. They only built 2 to 1 screens during the mid 60's. Most of the bigger screen during the 70's & 80's were 36 X 72 , it took a much smaller footing than a larger screen. I wish ours was a true 3x1.
Posted by Daryl C. W. O'Shea (Member # 1303) on 01-29-2003, 07:00 PM:
What are you going to show on a 3:1 screen?
Posted by Bob Chng (Member # 1576) on 01-31-2003, 12:50 AM:
hello everyone,
I've finally registered and stopped just lurking around here. MY name's Bob Chng.
Anyway, I was taken to this Knox cinema by friends while i was visiting australia over christmas. While the cinema 1 screen might be big, man it has some focus troubles. Moves in and out all the way through the film, like the gate was loose.
The lobby sure is nice though.
see you soon,
BOB
Posted by System Notices (Member # 2357) on 02-10-2013, 01:31 PM:
It has been 3663 days since the last post.
Posted by Aaron Garman (Member # 1653) on 02-10-2013, 01:31 PM:
This is what I call using the search function properly...
Anyhow, anyone know what the largest screens in the world are now? Also, what screen size limit does a 4K projector have?
When I took a tour of Grauman's Chinese a couple years back they said they had the largest screen in a conventional cinema. I found that a bit of a stretch. Sure, it's a big screen, but I'd imagine there is still bigger.
AJG
Posted by Antti Nayha (Member # 4980) on 02-11-2013, 12:38 PM:
The aforementioned Sydney IMAX is still the largest screen in the world, although it’s not called Panasonic anymore. They’re still running 15/70mm 3D IMAX with two 15 kW lamps.
They just replaced their silver screen a year ago, but I understand that the size remains the same.
Posted by Grant Chambers (Member # 7051) on 02-23-2013, 11:33 PM:
Our IMAX screen is 60ft tall and 80ft wide. Seats 534. We had a set of lenses custom made, in Germany, to fill the screen 70% scope and damn near 100% flat. And this is with a Century 7K 35mm projector.
![[Confused]](confused.gif)
![[thumbsdown]](graemlins/thumbsdown.gif)
They don't have Digital Cinema either. On this screen I already saw projections in Scope, 1.85 and 1.66 - the Scope image isn't very bright and the 1.85 projection looks a bit grainy (you really have to sit at the back half of the theatre to get a good quality picture.