quote: Scott Jentsch

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All the 4K units were pulled last month.

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Well that certainly is interesting....any reason why, Scott? How long after they were installed did someone say, "Ooops!....better rip those things out."

Here's another question -- so in the theatres with a LieIMAX room, there will be 4K Sony installs right next door in at least one of the standard theatres, yes? Yet the LieMAX will only have the two 2K Christies? Is it possible that LieMAX can process 4k authored movie files in such a way that they can actually get 4k resolution on the screen using dual 2Ks? Because if not, the LieMAX screen will be sporting a LOWER 2k resolution picture than the Sony 4k room right down the hall. How embarrassing for all those IMAX executives who have convinced themselves that two 2k rez video projectors on a 25t high screen is exactly the same as the resolution of 15/70 film projected with a rolling loop Academy Award winning projector onto a 6 story screen.

And if they can't configure their two Christie 2ks to output a 4k-ish image, then I guess we will be hearing the IMAX execs adding to their mantra of "BIG is relative" (depends where you sit) and "IMAX isn't just about BIG," they will have to add "RESOLUTION is relative....it depends on where you sit. Anyway, IMAX isn't just about resolution. We've taken out the first four rows of seats!"
 

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Posted by Cassandra Palko (Member # 5362) on 09-05-2009, 02:26 PM:
 
I used to work at the Majestic - we never really liked them all that much. No central server, changing formats was a pain, bulb explosions...
 

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Posted by Scott Jentsch (Member # 1681) on 09-09-2009, 08:19 PM:
 
I wasn't told specifically why they were pulled, just that they were gone (which required me to update our Information Page for the theater, which lists screen sizes, equipt., etc.).

We had a heck of a time trying to get them to identify the 4K shows as such. We have the ability to indicate Digital Cinema shows as well as a notes field in the showtimes, where they can trumpet the fact that they had Sony 4K units, but it was inconsistent at best. That meant that people didn't know that the shows were in 4K, much less Digital Cinema, so the marketing potential of the investment was completely lost.
 

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Posted by Julio Roberto (Member # 4976) on 09-09-2009, 08:36 PM:
 
You can not, of course, get 4K resolution out of two 2K projectors as 4K uses FOUR TIMES the amount of pixels that 2K uses, not twice as much.

But with a 4K master, you could use two projectors to give an image of a little higher than 2K, something similar (but not quite there) to say a 2.5K image.

But in practice, it's impossible to pixel-shift two external projectors with anywhere near the necessary precision, so you end up with a blurry mix of two pixel-shift images (if at all) and all you get is pbbly lower than 2K resolving power, but you could get a nice antialiasing effect and also cover up the screen door quite effectively by using two 2K's.

So yes. No matter how you look at it, 4K=much higher resolution than LieMax for everybody in the audience except those sitting in (aproximately) the last couple of rows (say 3-5) in most theaters, which shouldn't be able to tell a difference at that distance.
 

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Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 09-10-2009, 01:56 AM:
 
Julio, when you said, "No matter how you look at it, 4K=much higher resolution than LieMax for everybody in the audience except those sitting in (aproximately) the last couple of rows (say 3-5) in most theaters...." I had to laugh out loud because I was anticipating you finishing that sentence with something like......"4K = much higher resolution than LieMAX for everyone in the audience except....the IMAX execs who think that no matter what they project on a screen it's the "IMAX Experience."
 

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Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 09-10-2009, 04:24 PM:
 
Well, you can all bet that LIMAX will be first in line when 4K DLP becomes available... in about a years time according to a Christie Rep I talked to at the Mountain States NATO show today.

Mark
 

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Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 09-17-2009, 01:04 PM:
 
REG in BOISE installed a SONY 4k unit in one of their biggest houses..all I know for now..
 

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Posted by Alex Edwards (Member # 5413) on 09-28-2009, 07:29 PM:
 
We just got a Sony 4k projector in a medium theater. Ive only seen 3D on it but so far it looks good. For some reason it takes a few steps to start it up compared to just pressing play on our Christie digital projector. In fact you have to "prepare" the projector about 30 seconds before you press play. Anyone know why?
 

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Posted by Mike Olpin (Member # 1115) on 09-28-2009, 08:34 PM:
 
I saw one "Break down" recently. After it got fixed, the projectionist was unable to rewind the show to play the section that the audience missed during the problem. Does Sony not have basic transport controls on there units? You cant replay a section? Both Dolby and DoReMi can do this.
 

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Posted by Alex Edwards (Member # 5413) on 09-28-2009, 09:13 PM:
 
I havnt seen any ability to control where to start the movie on the Sony projectors. Although our Christie digital projector can be started after the trailers it cant start in the middle of a movie which was a pain a couple monthes ago when we had a brief power outage and the almost full couldn't finish their movie. We had to give passes and just wait for the next show.
 

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Posted by Mark Strube (Member # 4190) on 09-28-2009, 09:28 PM:
 
Alex - the functionality to start in the middle of a movie is in the software you use to make playlists. I haven't used it in awhile but I believe it's somewhere in the SPL control section. Also, you should be able to add "blank" area to your playlists by just pressing the "+" key while your first actual video item is selected. This will allow you to add all the needed cues to prepare the projector. I've found from the "on" cue it's good to add 30 seconds of blank before actual video is to show. If you put your projectors in standby in-between shows, make that 45 seconds. Sorry for being a bit vague, haven't used the software in a few months - all this is in the manual however.
 

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Posted by Sean Weitzel (Member # 244) on 09-28-2009, 10:27 PM:
 
Anyone know if the AMC chain is completely replacing 35mm with Sony 4k units? I thought I read something about that a while back.
 

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Posted by Alex Edwards (Member # 5413) on 09-28-2009, 11:19 PM:
 
Yea Sean, AMC's should all be getting Sony 4k projectors. Our theater has already started the upgrade. Plus heres an article about the conversion
 

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Posted by Geena Phillips (Member # 3726) on 09-29-2009, 09:12 PM:
 

quote: Mike Olpin

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Does Sony not have basic transport controls on there units? You cant replay a section? Both Dolby and DoReMi can do this.

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quote: Kevin Fairchild

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I heard that to change the lens on a Sony 4K unit, you needed to open up the actual projector with a key that only Sony technicians are allowed to have. So, for this whole first wave of projectors that Regal is installing, they are only purchasing the Real D lens (aka 2K) The Real D lens is shooting out two 2K images, but are only required to be accurate within four pixels. So even with the 4K projector, you are getting a fuzzy 2K image.

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