Some things to keep in mind about the theater experience.
Only a handful of theaters do film IMAX anymore. A lot of IMAX locations are just 4k DCP (Digital Cinema Package)
Most theaters in the world are digital projectors with a max resolution of 1998x1080 or 2048x858
Part of the reason these factors still exist is cost. A poorly maintained film projector with a lousy film print can ruin a movie going experience. Hollywood would sometimes release so very shitty prints. The digital projectors are much easier to maintain so the experience is often more ideal for the average movie goer.
Having said that, if a theater takes good care of their film projectors and they have a well made and well kept print, the experience can be amazing.
If you can see the film print in the opening week. Christopher Nolan makes his movies in an analog way. So it is a film process all the way though except for VFX. This is one of the only opportunities to see film that was not digitally modified. Only one place in the world can make these imax 70mm film prints and they are all basically hand made.
EDIT: link changed to piped link.
https://piped.video/watch?v=xa1xJIgLzFk
2k digital projection is typically used in smaller theaters where the screen size is not large enough for anyone to actually see a difference.
I’m going to see it in 70mm on the 28th and I’m sooo fucking excited! I got center seats near the back too, it’s gonna be epic. I wish there were more 70mm IMAX theaters so more people could experience it but I understand why there aren’t lol
Yeah. A well maintained cinema/projector with a sound system designed around the audience AND a good audience is an experience like no other. I think I have had that ONCE in my life when I caught Arrival in the UK. And even that was mostly a function of the audience being small enough that we could all mostly stay in the center of the theatre.
Because yeah. Most projectors are misaligned and poorly maintained. Even the digital ones are often a bit sketchy. And the audio experience mostly benefits maybe the middle (pulling this out of my ass) 30% of the room with everyone else outside of the sweet spot. And audiences tend to be on their phone, screaming, etc.
Its why… ever since I got my own place and built a halfway decent 5.1 setup, I really don’t care about theatres anymore. Worse audio, often worse visuals, can’t pause if I need to take a leak, and going to miss something important because some asshole in the front is on his phone.
Part of me does think catching Oppie in even a halfway decent imax would be AMAZING. But… more in a “laser Floyd” kind of way where it is less about appreciating the media and more about just the sensory experience.
I want to build a mancave downstairs, but I wouldn’t watch enough things to warrant a TV. I was thinking of buying a projector. Projectors used to be expensive, very expensive. Good projectors still seem to be, however now there are a plethora of cheap projectors on sites like Ali, Temu, Amazon, etc. Is it worth buying a high quality projector? Will I notice the difference? Or can I get away with a $40 projector bought off one of those sites?
My plan would simply be to stream stuff off my phone. If a cheap projector is a bad idea, what is a good protector and how much would I need to pay? Also, anyone know what the best audio setup would be for this?
Some things to keep in mind about the theater experience.
Part of the reason these factors still exist is cost. A poorly maintained film projector with a lousy film print can ruin a movie going experience. Hollywood would sometimes release so very shitty prints. The digital projectors are much easier to maintain so the experience is often more ideal for the average movie goer.
Having said that, if a theater takes good care of their film projectors and they have a well made and well kept print, the experience can be amazing.
If you can see the film print in the opening week. Christopher Nolan makes his movies in an analog way. So it is a film process all the way though except for VFX. This is one of the only opportunities to see film that was not digitally modified. Only one place in the world can make these imax 70mm film prints and they are all basically hand made. EDIT: link changed to piped link. https://piped.video/watch?v=xa1xJIgLzFk
2k digital projection is typically used in smaller theaters where the screen size is not large enough for anyone to actually see a difference.
Here is an alternative Piped link(s): https://piped.video/watch?v=xa1xJIgLzFk
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I’m open-source, check me out at GitHub.
I’m going to see it in 70mm on the 28th and I’m sooo fucking excited! I got center seats near the back too, it’s gonna be epic. I wish there were more 70mm IMAX theaters so more people could experience it but I understand why there aren’t lol
Yeah. A well maintained cinema/projector with a sound system designed around the audience AND a good audience is an experience like no other. I think I have had that ONCE in my life when I caught Arrival in the UK. And even that was mostly a function of the audience being small enough that we could all mostly stay in the center of the theatre.
Because yeah. Most projectors are misaligned and poorly maintained. Even the digital ones are often a bit sketchy. And the audio experience mostly benefits maybe the middle (pulling this out of my ass) 30% of the room with everyone else outside of the sweet spot. And audiences tend to be on their phone, screaming, etc.
Its why… ever since I got my own place and built a halfway decent 5.1 setup, I really don’t care about theatres anymore. Worse audio, often worse visuals, can’t pause if I need to take a leak, and going to miss something important because some asshole in the front is on his phone.
Part of me does think catching Oppie in even a halfway decent imax would be AMAZING. But… more in a “laser Floyd” kind of way where it is less about appreciating the media and more about just the sensory experience.
Question for anyone reading.
I want to build a mancave downstairs, but I wouldn’t watch enough things to warrant a TV. I was thinking of buying a projector. Projectors used to be expensive, very expensive. Good projectors still seem to be, however now there are a plethora of cheap projectors on sites like Ali, Temu, Amazon, etc. Is it worth buying a high quality projector? Will I notice the difference? Or can I get away with a $40 projector bought off one of those sites?
My plan would simply be to stream stuff off my phone. If a cheap projector is a bad idea, what is a good protector and how much would I need to pay? Also, anyone know what the best audio setup would be for this?
If you’re looking to keep costs super low I imagine you’re better off going for a second hand projector over a cheap new one.
That is what I did, just make sure that you can get a spare bulb for reasonable money. Some old projectors have EXPENSIVE bulbs