Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Kinoton models

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Posted by Ken Lackner (Member # 1002) on 03-03-2004, 12:54 PM:

Kinoton has a ton of different projector models. I was curious as to the history and evolution of all these different models. Why so many? Is there a significance to the FP and PK designations?

Posted by Ian Price (Member # 14) on 03-03-2004, 03:03 PM:

I'm not sure, but FP are film projectors that sit on the ground and the lamphouses bolt to them. PK are projectors made to bolt on to consoles.

Posted by Ken Lackner (Member # 1002) on 03-03-2004, 06:29 PM:

That's strange. I used to work at a theater that has FP-23C's. They are just projector heads. They mount on to the lamphouse. Just like the PK-60D. Wonder why they would have an FP designation.

Has anyone else used the FP-23C? I've seen Kinoton mention alot on this site, but it usually seems to be the FP-30. Just wondering if anyone else has used the 23, and if so, what do you think?

Posted by Phil Hill (Member # 371) on 03-03-2004, 06:42 PM:

Perhaps a stroll over to Larry Shaw's Boston Light & Sound website or the Kinoton "home office" one would help you answer your questions.

>>> Phil

Posted by Larry Shaw (Member # 388) on 03-03-2004, 08:18 PM:

Ken,

FP means "Film Projektor", which can mean the column style or the console style. PK means "Projector Head" (Kopf is head, like in Dumbkopf; Michael can correct my spelling), generally the PK-60D or E. The FP-23C is a little odd. It is actually the working part of a FP-23, which was a portable made a number of years ago. John Gallucci (who works here still) designed a set of brackets to mount the FP-23 on a console; thus the FP-23C designation. In those days Kinoton GmbH had not yet developed a projector head, so the PK designator had not beed used. This machine was only sold in the US and maybe Canada. In most ways other than the housing it is just like a FP-20.

And further to Phil's suggestion, you might take a look at http://www.kinotonamerica.com/support/index.asp and scroll down to "Model Decoding". Note that I wrote "include"; there are even more models.

Posted by Michael Schaffer (Member # 1204) on 03-04-2004, 04:03 AM:

>Dummkopf (with a short u sound as in "pull")

The division into projector head and lamphouse is unknown in Germany. They developed the PK series only for the American market. It basically doesn`t make sense to me at all to mount a Kinoton projector head on another lamphouse when the Kinoton lamphouses have a much higher light output efficiency, but that`s the way the market is structured here. Also consoles are very uncommon in Germany. I think UCI cinemas (which is an American-owned exhibitor) installed consoles in some of their locations. But virtually all installations I ever was involved with had the column projector and separate rectifier config.

To answer Ken`s question: there are so many different Kinoton models because the design is modular. Which means there are some basic components, and then you add whatever feature you want. That means whether you buy the "basic" multiplex projector or the kickass studio machine, you get the same basic parts plus more or less extra features. This modular design idea goes back to the days when the machines were Philips. Kinoton (literally "cinema sound") was originally a sound service company in Munich, and they took over the projector series when Philips decided to get out of the projector business. In Germany, you still find a lot of older machines on which it says both Philips and Kinoton.

Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 03-04-2004, 06:14 AM:

The nice thing about having a projector head that's separate from the lamphouse/base/reel arms is that an exhibitor who already owns the other items and wants to upgrade only needs to replace the projector head.

For a new installation, I can see why the all-in-one design makes sense, but for upgrades to existing installations, it seems silly to throw away perfectly good equipment just to upgrade the projector mechanism. The exhibitor can then upgrade to a Kinoton (or other brand of) lamphouse at a later time, if desired.