Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Projecting Bluray on a Big Screen.

This is topic Projecting Bluray on a Big Screen. in forum Digital Cinema Forum at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Carlos Villalpando (Member # 7411) on 01-21-2013, 05:53 PM:

Hi to everyone!
This is my first post, Thanks Brad for accepting me into the forums. [Smile]

So, here´s the thing:
>>>How good/bad would Blu-ray look projected on a 45 feet screen?
I work at an all digital complex and we are thinking on having low priced matinees of movies that we played before, and are now out in Blu-ray/DVD.
We are planning to do this in a screen 14 meters (around 45 feet) wide x 7.5 meters (around 24.6 meters) tall.
So, how good/bad will Bluray look on that screen?
It´s a Christie 2K projector.

Here are some other questions I'd like to be answered:
- Since Scope in Blu-ray is ALWAYS letterboxed, It has to be played in Flat?
- Is there a reference level for Blu-ray sound?

Thanks! [Smile]

Posted by Carsten Kurz (Member # 5396) on 01-21-2013, 06:45 PM:

It will look astonishingly good even on a 45ft screen. IF the BluRay received a decent mastering.

Audio levels are not so tightly controlled as in DCI spec'ed movies, but that is not a real issue.

Go ahead and try it. I doubt, however, that this will be a 'low priced' presentation scheme. Except for very expensive classics, e.g. from Park Circus, most distributors will either charge the same money for a BluRay as they do for a DCP, or they do not allow BluRays to be presented in a cinema at all.

As to flat/scope - you will find various levels of letterboxing on BluRays. You can prepare projector settings bringing them into 'real' flat or 'real' scope presentations just like with DCPs. The 'amount' of letterboxing is just not so tightly controlled, and it will probably need some tweaking or a set of 'different' zoom/vshift levels to accomodate for the daily breed of BluRay releases. After all, you can always tweak it manually on the projector.

- Carsten

Posted by Jock Blakley (Member # 6552) on 01-21-2013, 09:44 PM:

They can even look quite decent on 63-foot screens, and I know this from experience.

Posted by Jonathan Goeldner (Member # 4854) on 01-22-2013, 12:15 AM:

^ yes, I was a tad shocked how good, (but not great) the movie 'The Best and the Brightest' (the movie itself wasn't that good by the way) was shown from a bluray on the the Avalon Theater's 41 feet wide screen.

I didn't see it, but apparently the most recent presentation of 'Apocalypse Now' at the AFI Silver, Paramount didn't have a 35mm print to project but gave them a bluray copy.

Posted by Carlos Villalpando (Member # 7411) on 01-22-2013, 11:33 AM:

Thanks Carsten and Jonathan!

If I go to Blockbuster and get the Blu-ray we want to play, and ask permission to the distributor to play it, approx. how much would they charge?
Thanks.

Posted by Michael Putlack (Member # 6523) on 01-22-2013, 12:28 PM:

We did Evil Dead II on bluray and it was $250 vs 35%.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 01-22-2013, 02:16 PM:

Right - I've never heard of any old films renting for less than $250. Sometimes it's more.

On matinees for last Christmas season they charged us $250 for using a blu-ray, and $350 if we wanted a DCP. (Madagascar 3 and Arthur Christmas were the movies.)

Posted by Marco Giustini (Member # 4544) on 01-22-2013, 02:44 PM:

It looks, unfortunately, very good. Just make sure the levels are correct, too many setups show alternative content with the wrong video levels resulting in washed out pictures.
Also make sure the picture is either scaled to 2K or properly zoomed.

Blu Ray works exacly like D-Cinema. The only difference is the resolution:

Flat DCI 1998x1080 Vs Flat HD 1920x1080 (slightly different A.ratio)

Scope DCI 2048x858 Vs Scope HD 1920x804 (or 803?).

If you don't have maskings, your Flat HD picture will just be a tad smaller on screen. If your screen is equipped with them, there will be bars on side, unless you adjust the maskings.

In scope, it will be exactly like D-Cinema, but you need to tell the projector/the scaler that the active area is 1920x803 or your scope picture will be floating in the middle of the screen.

When setting up projector it's always a good habit to use a HD test disc with some framing charts to verify the aspect ratio and the video levels.

Posted by Carlos Villalpando (Member # 7411) on 01-22-2013, 05:08 PM:

Thanks to everyone!

Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 01-24-2013, 05:21 PM:

You want to be sure your player will not go out of PAUSE mode, as you will always have to cue the player to where the film ACTUALLY starts, past the gawdawful menu and the "Home Video" logo -- it's bad enough you are not presenting DCP quality, the last thing you want to do is announce it to your paying patrons. You will cue up to the start of the movie only to have it go out of PAUSE and you have to mess with finding the right spot to start the show.

If you player DOES go out of pause, be sure to time it so you know exactly how much time you have before that happens.

A few venues where I have worked somehow think you don't need a monitor. You DO. Make sure you have a video monitor setup so you can see what the player is putting out before you let the audience see it. Any small inexpensive unit it will do, just so you can cue up without that image being projected. One venue where I work has a sweet setup with a switcher and two monitors -- one for "live" and one for "preview," while another venue has nothing but a piece of cardboard that I have to slide in front of the projector lens while I look at an old b&w CRT TV with no video in, but getting Channel 3 from an RF modulator being fed a composite signal from the player. Whatever it takes to mimic a film presentation with out, of course, actual film.