Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Universal Studios Hollywood IMAX Gone Digital

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Posted by Daniel Schulz (Member # 1881) on 04-14-2013, 09:19 PM:

If anyone is keeping tabs - the IMAX screen at the AMC Universal CityWalk in LA has converted to digital IMAX. It was still running 15/70 last summer for The Dark Knight Rises, but I went over the weekend for Jurassic Park 3D (I chose that location specifically so I could see the 15/70 IMAX 3D presentation), and found as the screening started that it's now the usual stacked 2K digital projectors.

Interesting, as this is one of the old very large IMAX screens, with the steeply raked auditoriums. Presentation was OK, but certainly not up to 15/70 3D standards.

Posted by Carlos Villalpando (Member # 7411) on 04-14-2013, 10:37 PM:

Didn't it look pixelated? I mean, 2K blown up too big.
How was the sound?

Posted by Terry Lynn-Stevens (Member # 7349) on 04-15-2013, 01:31 AM:

They advertise the IMAX screen as a 7 story screen, can digital even make up to that size?

And the ticket price is $19.50

What a shame!

Posted by Jonathan Goeldner (Member # 4854) on 04-15-2013, 09:48 AM:

^ oh I read 'scam' not 'shame' [Wink]

what? they couldn't wait til next year when IMAX-Digital Laser starts rolling out.

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 04-15-2013, 10:16 AM:

2K material looks pretty bad on a large IMAX screen designed originally for 15/70mm projection. If the projector's focus is right on you be see evidence of the pixel grid even with a pair of 2K projectors trying to overlap images to hide the jaggies. Whether the projection focus is sharp or not the overall image quality will be really fuzzy and wanting in terms of native resolution.

Also, it doesn't matter if the 2K material is being shown via digital projectors or by way of film. I watched Superman Returns projected in 15/70mm film, but I thought the image quality was still really bad thanks to the movie's HDTV native resolution. I know how native IMAX imagery is supposed to look and this didn't even stand up to 35mm standards. The movie basically looked like it was run out of focus.

If what I have read about the laser projection system IMAX is going to start using maybe next year (or who knows when for sure) it will be a major improvement (dual 4K resolution projectors claiming much better color, contrast and black levels). If the laser projection system is able to deliver what they claim it will go a long way to prove their experiment with 2K projectors was a stupid waste of time. The IMAX brand has been seriously damaged by this LieMAX era.

I'm not convinced dual 4K laser projectors will be on par with 15/70mm material, but at least it will finally be a noticeable step above what can be seen in the average movie theater.

Posted by Mike Williamson (Member # 6249) on 09-30-2013, 12:14 AM:

I attended METALLICA: THROUGH THE NEVER at Universal IMAX this evening and spoke with a gentleman at Guest Services about the switch to digital.

He seemed convinced they still had the 70mm projectors up there, but were forced to switch to 2K now because they couldn't get prints of anything anymore. Studios just weren't making them for all IMAX releases. He cited how long they ran DARK KNIGHT RISES (seemed like all summer long, almost) last year because that was the only 70mm print they could get for months. He mentioned being disappointed they couldn't get a 70mm print of AVENGERS, so it skipped their theatre entirely.

I asked specifically about GRAVITY, and whether it will be digital or 70mm next weekend. He radioed in and came back with the "digital" response.

When seated for METALLICA, I looked up at the booth and couldn't conceive how they could fit both 70mm and 2K up there...Perhaps he just didn't know that it was completely disassembled from the booth. The 2k 3D IMAX presentation on the big "classic" IMAX screen was fine for digital, but nowhere near 15/70 quality (of course, this concert was shot digitally anyways). But it was better than I had expected (which was very low expectations).

I wonder if the RAVE Imax in Los Angeles is also 2K now. That was the only other commercial 70mm IMAX in town.

End of an era. Mind blowing 15/70 images replaced with passable pixelated imagery.

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 09-30-2013, 10:07 AM:

Gravity looks like it might be interesting. But rather than paying a bunch to watch it in digital IMAX HDTV video 3D, if I see it i'll probably pay a few dollars less to watch it at the Harkins Bricktown theater in 2D with Dolby Atmos sound.

Posted by Mike Williamson (Member # 6249) on 09-30-2013, 10:21 AM:

Gravity looks very interesting, and I know of one theatre in town running it in 35mm 2D (GLENDALE GALAXY - A 4plex that's still 100% 35mm). Probably the way I'll go.

IMAX responded to my Facebook query about the ability of the Universal Citywalk site having both 2K and 70mm. Their response:

"Hi Mike, your theatre will be capable of projecting in both IMAX film and IMAX digital. The addition of the IMAX dual 2K digital projection system will allow the theatre to play more IMAX releases at this location. Gravity will be a digital IMAX 3D release. Please let us know if you have any other questions."

Posted by Dick Vaughan (Member # 540) on 10-01-2013, 03:42 AM:

They may have the projectors on a rail system which quite a number of IMAX theatres do to allow use of 1570 and digital.
There are far fewer 1570 prints out there but at a recent conference IMAX said that Chris Nolan's Interstellar which opens November 2014 wil play in at least 50 1570 theatres.

Posted by Joseph L. Kleiman (Member # 3097) on 10-01-2013, 04:11 PM:

This is at IMAX Sydney, which houses the world's largest screen. The projection port is located on the left side of the photo. To run 1570 film, the exhaust hoses are disconnected from the twin digital projectors, which are then manually slid down the track, in this case towards the foreground of this photo. The GT projector, seen on the right, is then slid forward into the projection slot and the hoses attached. The process is reversed when switching from film to digital, with the exception being that each time they are placed in position, the digital projectors need to be calibrated. Because 1570 has never used a sound strip, both projectors are tied to the same digital control and audio system.

Posted by Kevin Orpilla (Member # 7904) on 10-26-2013, 05:05 AM:

Hello everyone, my name is Kevin, and I work the booth at this particular location. I was very curious, Daniel (the thread starter), as to what made you think Jurassic Park was digital?

Jurassic Park 3D was one of the first movies I was trained in threading IMAX, so I can assure you that it was definitely 70mm. We did not go digital until this month (early October for the Gravity release).

Here's our setup before (these pics were actually taken the same day that this thread was started, 4/14/13):

And this is after (as some posters above may have guessed, we have both digital and 70mm on a rail system):

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 10-26-2013, 11:33 AM:

Thanks for posting the photos, Kevin. I'd like to know what resolution was used in creating the Jurassic Park 3D DCP. I'll bet it was just 2K. Unfortunately, 2K material blown up to 15/70mm isn't going to look much different than watching a movie in IMAX digital. The 15/70 print might do a better job of hiding the pixel grid in the original material. But it won't show any more native detail than the digital version.

Gravity was rendered in 2K.

Posted by Terry Lynn-Stevens (Member # 7349) on 10-26-2013, 11:54 AM:

Kevin, nice pictures. In your opinion, how do you feel about the difference between the 2K digital projectors vs the 15/70 IMAX machine? After all, you work there, what do your eyes tell you?

From everything I have read and heard, the end of 2014 is the date that IMAX will officially stop distributing 15/70 prints. Any word on what your theatre plans to do?

Is your theatre getting Hunger Games Catching Fire in 15/70?