I saw Star Trek on Thursday at the Denver, Colorado Center which was built as an IMAX. The map shows it in question and I have my own. I was somewhat surprised at the aspect of the screen, although it was Really BIG it was still 4:3 and I think since the movie letterboxed, it was 16:9. The seating was stadium but shallow, which made the theatre small for what I was expecting. The sound. Having been the person that would tune, by ear, all the major theatres in our area, prior to the new self sampling systems, I was disappointed. It seem to be only 5.1 and the center channel was out of balance, louder, than the rest. Also it was "sharp and piercing". Also there were no "balls" or bottom end. Explosions in the real movie were a fraction of what they were/are when I play the trailers from my Mac through it's $35 Logitech 2.1 speakers, or pipe it through my 7.1 3700 Pioneer watt system. I mean things in the room move. At the IMAX it was a firecracker instead of a Warp Core Breach. The theatre sits next to a major highway and when going back to the car there was an explosion, pretty substantial one, in the direction of the highway and everyone walking with me made mention that it sound more realistic than in the movie. No Duh!. When I arrived home and turned on my 50" DLP I really felt something was missing from the theatre. Even commercials had more dynamics/"balls" and the aspect of 16:9 was more pleasant.
I too can not wait for this on Blu-Ray. I know my theatre is ready.
After reading posts at the Map Creators link where there are posts of what a true IMAX should be and I now am quite sure that the Colorado Center IMAX is a FauxMAX. Although, it does have a couple of the attributes that a RealMAX does, it was still a disappointment. I consider it a cheat. We do have an original IMAX at the Natural History Museum that was refurbished years ago to host "commercial" showings, but hasn't presented any.
You've never tuned a theatre, if so you would know that the film aspect is 2.39:1 not 16:9 and that there are no "self tuning" systems in theatres. Sorry you lose.
That said it's very easy to tell if you are seeing it in a 70mm house or Digital, if there are large ports spanning a 6' width and the screen is less than 50' wide it's digital, if there is only one large port with two lens situated one directly above the other and the screen is over 50' wide then it is 70mm.
Boo Radley, what do you know if I did or not just by you misunderstanding and relating that misunderstanding to part of the my post that it has no bearing on?! If you were to read my post and understood what was actually written, you'd have seen that I was writing about the movie aspect of FauxMax that I was just at and the "Letterboxed" picture that was not 2.39:1 (or 2.33:1 (21:9) as in Phillips new LCD) which more like 16:9 and not the "CinemaScope" aspect and theatres of many years ago. And as far as your spouting of there not being any "self tuning" (actually Self Calibrating EQ) systems in theatres, then you must live in a cave. I have several self tuning EQ's in my home that I have put in Clubs and Theatres such the somewhat outdated, but still works like a charm, Behringer Ultra-Curve Digital 24 bit DSP Mainframe 8000 that takes 3 of to accommodate 5.1 (6) channels. There are many brands and level of Self Calibrating EQ's on the market that are used in Nightclubs, Theatres, Concert Halls, Vegas Showrooms, Homes . . .
So I guess you lose in more ways than one. Have fun in your cave. Pissing Match over.
I would have lost that pissing match, except that I do tune theatres and no movie theatre worth it's salt uses self tuning systems. You can spout crazy sound specs all you want, but REAL movie theatres use sound processors made by Dolby or DTS. If you would like to do some research try looking up a CP-650, CP-500 or an XD-10p, those are the processors that theatres use. You would also know that not only is cinema scope currently used regularly it is what the Star Trek film is projected in and that it would in no way be expected to fill any IMAX screen, Digital or 70mm. What panasonic system is that exactly? I am not aware of a 3700 watt system they make, and seeing as most of the 127 cinema systems I service don't have even 2000 watts of amp power I'd be curious to see how it sounds.
That's not to say that the theatre you saw it is was not set up properly, especially the Digital IMAX, the digital house IMAX has put it's name on are a complete joke, and the owners of all the major exhibitors know it, and will be much more cautious now that Aziz has made public knowledge of the problems industry techs have known about for a year. Fortunately I don't service IMAX equipment, otherwise I would be forced to commit seppuku due to the huge levels of selling out that company has done.
Word to the wise, don't ever watch an "IMAX" film in a digital IMAX house, the projectors are only 2K resolution, which is essentially no higher than the resolution of a 1080P TV, sure there is more bandwidth and 3 chips and a prism and so-on, but the BS that is the IMAX image enhancer stinks for days. Save your pennies and see it in a normal 2K digital house, we don't charge extra for that, or make sure your IMAX is 70mm, but just remember that even the IMAX prints weren't filmed in 70MM, they have been computer "enhanced' (see also, digital Vaseline) by the IMAX corporation.
Agreeing with Boo Radley. Dolby had that EQ assist thing in the CP650, but even the Dolby engineers didn't use it. ST is listed as 2.40 Scope on the cinema hard drives.
Saw ST 4 times so far: Christie CP2000 (?) at Framingham, MA (badly cropped image) Barco DP100 (CP65 using USL JSD80 for DtoA) at Warwick, RI (good presentation) Sony SRX (CP65 using Dolby DMA8+ for DtoA) at Foxboro, MA (good once the projector warmed up...uneven color for the first few minutes) IMAX at (?) Providence Place (very poor image transfer and sound badly tuned)
Of the 4, the Barco and Sony looked and sounded the best. Although the Christie was cropped, that house has a THX certified sound system and sounded good. The IMAX was the worst. Fast action was very blurry. You could not see the creature's face in the scene on Delta Vega when JTK is chased by the monster from Cloverfield. The sound was very shrill. It was uncomfortable to listen to.
The whole line-up consists of the $60 Amps in-ears and $100 Tracks on-ear headphones, which both also come in slightly souped-up and pricier HD variations at $100 and $130, respectively.
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I saw Star Trek on Thursday at the Denver, Colorado Center which was built as an IMAX. The map shows it in question and I have my own. I was somewhat surprised at the aspect of the screen, although it was Really BIG it was still 4:3 and I think since the movie letterboxed, it was 16:9. The seating was stadium but shallow, which made the theatre small for what I was expecting. The sound. Having been the person that would tune, by ear, all the major theatres in our area, prior to the new self sampling systems, I was disappointed. It seem to be only 5.1 and the center channel was out of balance, louder, than the rest. Also it was "sharp and piercing". Also there were no "balls" or bottom end. Explosions in the real movie were a fraction of what they were/are when I play the trailers from my Mac through it's $35 Logitech 2.1 speakers, or pipe it through my 7.1 3700 Pioneer watt system. I mean things in the room move. At the IMAX it was a firecracker instead of a Warp Core Breach. The theatre sits next to a major highway and when going back to the car there was an explosion, pretty substantial one, in the direction of the highway and everyone walking with me made mention that it sound more realistic than in the movie. No Duh!. When I arrived home and turned on my 50" DLP I really felt something was missing from the theatre. Even commercials had more dynamics/"balls" and the aspect of 16:9 was more pleasant.
I too can not wait for this on Blu-Ray. I know my theatre is ready.
After reading posts at the Map Creators link where there are posts of what a true IMAX should be and I now am quite sure that the Colorado Center IMAX is a FauxMAX. Although, it does have a couple of the attributes that a RealMAX does, it was still a disappointment. I consider it a cheat. We do have an original IMAX at the Natural History Museum that was refurbished years ago to host "commercial" showings, but hasn't presented any.
You've never tuned a theatre, if so you would know that the film aspect is 2.39:1 not 16:9 and that there are no "self tuning" systems in theatres. Sorry you lose.
That said it's very easy to tell if you are seeing it in a 70mm house or Digital, if there are large ports spanning a 6' width and the screen is less than 50' wide it's digital, if there is only one large port with two lens situated one directly above the other and the screen is over 50' wide then it is 70mm.
Boo Radley, what do you know if I did or not just by you misunderstanding and relating that misunderstanding to part of the my post that it has no bearing on?! If you were to read my post and understood what was actually written, you'd have seen that I was writing about the movie aspect of FauxMax that I was just at and the "Letterboxed" picture that was not 2.39:1 (or 2.33:1 (21:9) as in Phillips new LCD) which more like 16:9 and not the "CinemaScope" aspect and theatres of many years ago. And as far as your spouting of there not being any "self tuning" (actually Self Calibrating EQ) systems in theatres, then you must live in a cave. I have several self tuning EQ's in my home that I have put in Clubs and Theatres such the somewhat outdated, but still works like a charm, Behringer Ultra-Curve Digital 24 bit DSP Mainframe 8000 that takes 3 of to accommodate 5.1 (6) channels. There are many brands and level of Self Calibrating EQ's on the market that are used in Nightclubs, Theatres, Concert Halls, Vegas Showrooms, Homes . . .
So I guess you lose in more ways than one. Have fun in your cave. Pissing Match over.
I would have lost that pissing match, except that I do tune theatres and no movie theatre worth it's salt uses self tuning systems. You can spout crazy sound specs all you want, but REAL movie theatres use sound processors made by Dolby or DTS. If you would like to do some research try looking up a CP-650, CP-500 or an XD-10p, those are the processors that theatres use. You would also know that not only is cinema scope currently used regularly it is what the Star Trek film is projected in and that it would in no way be expected to fill any IMAX screen, Digital or 70mm. What panasonic system is that exactly? I am not aware of a 3700 watt system they make, and seeing as most of the 127 cinema systems I service don't have even 2000 watts of amp power I'd be curious to see how it sounds.
That's not to say that the theatre you saw it is was not set up properly, especially the Digital IMAX, the digital house IMAX has put it's name on are a complete joke, and the owners of all the major exhibitors know it, and will be much more cautious now that Aziz has made public knowledge of the problems industry techs have known about for a year. Fortunately I don't service IMAX equipment, otherwise I would be forced to commit seppuku due to the huge levels of selling out that company has done.
Word to the wise, don't ever watch an "IMAX" film in a digital IMAX house, the projectors are only 2K resolution, which is essentially no higher than the resolution of a 1080P TV, sure there is more bandwidth and 3 chips and a prism and so-on, but the BS that is the IMAX image enhancer stinks for days. Save your pennies and see it in a normal 2K digital house, we don't charge extra for that, or make sure your IMAX is 70mm, but just remember that even the IMAX prints weren't filmed in 70MM, they have been computer "enhanced' (see also, digital Vaseline) by the IMAX corporation.
Agreeing with Boo Radley. Dolby had that EQ assist thing in the CP650, but even the Dolby engineers didn't use it. ST is listed as 2.40 Scope on the cinema hard drives.
Saw ST 4 times so far:
Christie CP2000 (?) at Framingham, MA (badly cropped image)
Barco DP100 (CP65 using USL JSD80 for DtoA) at Warwick, RI (good presentation)
Sony SRX (CP65 using Dolby DMA8+ for DtoA) at Foxboro, MA (good once the projector warmed up...uneven color for the first few minutes)
IMAX at (?) Providence Place (very poor image transfer and sound badly tuned)
Of the 4, the Barco and Sony looked and sounded the best. Although the Christie was cropped, that house has a THX certified sound system and sounded good. The IMAX was the worst. Fast action was very blurry. You could not see the creature's face in the scene on Delta Vega when JTK is chased by the monster from Cloverfield. The sound was very shrill. It was uncomfortable to listen to.