Large Format/"Premium" Theaters (IMAX 15/70, Digital IMAX, XD, ETX, RPX, etc.)

[BJKH]

Originally Posted by blu-ray_girl_fan

We have D Box here in the U.S., and UltraAVX sounds just like ETX, XD, RPX, etc.

Oh sorry, I guess I thought they were different.

[Dreamliner330]

Can anyone else see pixels in Digital IMAX?

All the IMAX screens around me are AMC and I typically sit 4/10ths back in the theater and I can see then pixel grid on the screen in light colors.

It was super noticeable on Tom Cruises white pants in MI:GP, and on the light sky and whites in Oblivion.

I sat 5 rows from the back for Iron Man 3 and didn't see the pixels but I really disliked the angle I was at to the screen.

I emailed IMAX and AMC...that didn't really go anywhere.

I just have a hard time with believing IMAX would sign off on pixel visibility from ~50% of the seats. I have observed pixels in 3 AMC IMAX locations.

[blu-ray_girl_fan]

Originally Posted by Dreamliner330

Can anyone else see pixels in Digital IMAX?

All the IMAX screens around me are AMC and I typically sit 4/10ths back in the theater and I can see then pixel grid on the screen in light colors.

It was super noticeable on Tom Cruises white pants in MI:GP, and on the light sky and whites in Oblivion.

I sat 5 rows from the back for Iron Man 3 and didn't see the pixels but I really disliked the angle I was at to the screen.

I emailed IMAX and AMC...that didn't really go anywhere.

I just have a hard time with believing IMAX would sign off on pixel visibility from ~50% of the seats. I have observed pixels in 3 AMC IMAX locations.

I sat in the first third of the auditorium for Oblivion but didn't see pixels. However, I saw pixels during Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 2 in a Cinemark XD auditorium. I'm not gonna pay for another XD ticket b/c of that experience.

[Poya]

Originally Posted by blu-ray_girl_fan

I sat in the first third of the auditorium for Oblivion but didn't see pixels. However, I saw pixels during Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 2 in a Cinemark XD auditorium. I'm not gonna pay for another XD ticket b/c of that experience.

Quick question: why don't you add Cinerama to your OP? From where I am, it's certainly a premium theater, what with the wide, curved screen and the huge amount of seats that rival IMAX.

[Dubstar]

Originally Posted by BJKH

Oh sorry, I guess I thought they were different.

it's a regular alphabet soup:

Bow Tie Cinema's: BTX
Rave Motion Pictures: Xtreme
Essex Cinemas': T-REX
Arclight's: WideScreen
Marcus Theaters: Ultrascreens
Harkins Theaters: Cine Capri screens
Xscape Theaters: Xtremescape screens

[Dubstar]

Originally Posted by Dreamliner330

Can anyone else see pixels in Digital IMAX?

All the IMAX screens around me are AMC and I typically sit 4/10ths back in the theater and I can see then pixel grid on the screen in light colors.

It was super noticeable on Tom Cruises white pants in MI:GP, and on the light sky and whites in Oblivion.

I sat 5 rows from the back for Iron Man 3 and didn't see the pixels but I really disliked the angle I was at to the screen.

I emailed IMAX and AMC...that didn't really go anywhere.

I just have a hard time with believing IMAX would sign off on pixel visibility from ~50% of the seats. I have observed pixels in 3 AMC IMAX locations.

complain on their Facebook page - it's the best place to vent, they are good in responding.

[blu-ray_girl_fan]

Originally Posted by Poya

Quick question: why don't you add Cinerama to your OP? From where I am, it's certainly a premium theater, what with the wide, curved screen and the huge amount of seats that rival IMAX.

According to Wikipedia, there are only four movie theaters in the world that can show an actual Cinerama movie. Furthermore, no one has made an actual Cinerama movie in several decades. It's essentially an extinct format.

# of seats isn't a contributing factor. Some auditoriums have more seats than an IMAX theater. The IMAX Experience involves viewer distance from the screen, so having a lot of seats doesn't mean much.

[Eric The Duke]

Originally Posted by lowimpact

Heading to AMC Tyson's Corner 16 in Northern Virginia tonight and can't decide between IMAX 3D and ETX with Atmos sound (searching led me to this thread). There are several articles floating around hyping the Atmos collaboration for Star Trek so I'm really tempted to go for ETX over IMAX.

Thoughts?

If you live in that area, you should try to see it at the IMAX @ Air and Space in chantilly. 15/70 imax is much better than the digital version!

[Eric The Duke]

Originally Posted by Scorpion Soldier

Well I'm really nitpicky on losing visual information, even if its only a little bit. Just knowing there's more image to the picture being shown in 1.44:1 elsewhere already really bugs me.(My OCD working up doesn't help either) But none the less I will be watching the IMAX 3D version. 1.78:1 is better than nothing.

As far as I understand digital IMAX has 2 different aspect ratios to choose from. 1.89 and 2.39. I believe Star Trek Into Darkness is in 2.39, but is opened up to 1.89 for the parts shot with an IMAX camera.

[Dubstar]

Originally Posted by Eric The Duke

As far as I understand digital IMAX has 2 different aspect ratios to choose from. 1.89 and 2.39. I believe Star Trek Into Darkness is in 2.39, but is opened up to 1.89 for the parts shot with an IMAX camera.

you sure? imdb is never 100% correct, but they list that the IMAX shot scenes are 1:44 - what's accurate?

Originally Posted by Eric The Duke

If you live in that area, you should try to see it at the IMAX @ Air and Space in chantilly. 15/70 imax is much better than the digital version!

with around 30 minutes of footage actually shot in 15/70 film stock - that's a huge incentive to see it as such (from what I'm hearing the 3D is good, but isn't it post converted anyways? and ironically or unfortunately Udvar Hazy isn't able to present an IMAX feature in 3D - that will change with the laser conversion though).

[Eric The Duke]

Originally Posted by Dubstar

you sure? imdb is never 100% correct, but they list that the IMAX shot scenes are 1:44 - what's accurate?



with around 30 minutes of footage actually shot in 15/70 film stock - that's a huge incentive to see it as such (from what I'm hearing the 3D is good, but isn't it post converted anyways? and ironically or unfortunately Udvar Hazy isn't able to present an IMAX feature in 3D - that will change with the laser conversion though).

yes, the imax scenes were shot in 1.44. But digital imax screens don't show 1.44 aspect ratio prints. 15/70 imax theaters present in 1.44.

[Dubstar]

Originally Posted by Eric The Duke

yes, the imax scenes were shot in 1.44. But digital imax screens don't show 1.44 aspect ratio prints. 15/70 imax theaters present in 1.44.

oh sorry I misread/interpreted what you were saying, so IMAX-D is still not full screen at 1.79 but 1.89 with STILL black borders on the top and bottom of the screen - that's weird...

[blu-ray_girl_fan]

Originally Posted by Eric The Duke

As far as I understand digital IMAX has 2 different aspect ratios to choose from. 1.89 and 2.39. I believe Star Trek Into Darkness is in 2.39, but is opened up to 1.89 for the parts shot with an IMAX camera.

Yes, Digital IMAX can show anything narrower than 1.78:1. They just can't show the tall 1.44:1 ratio.

Originally Posted by Dubstar

oh sorry I misread/interpreted what you were saying, so IMAX-D is still not full screen at 1.79 but 1.89 with STILL black borders on the top and bottom of the screen - that's weird...

There aren't any black bars b/c the Digital IMAX screens are 1.78:1 already.

[Dubstar]

Originally Posted by blu-ray_girl_fan

There aren't any black bars b/c the Digital IMAX screens are 1.78:1 already.

but if you place a 1.89 image onto a 1.79 AR screen it wouldn't technically fill the entire screen. catch my drift here?

[blu-ray_girl_fan]

Originally Posted by Dubstar

but if you nestle a 1.89 image onto a 1.79 AR screen it wouldn't technically fill the entire screen. catch my drift here?

The black bars would be very slim, or they could zoom in on the picture, cutting off a bit at the sides.

[Eric The Duke]

Originally Posted by Dubstar

oh sorry I misread/interpreted what you were saying, so IMAX-D is still not full screen at 1.79 but 1.89 with STILL black borders on the top and bottom of the screen - that's weird...

I don't know what the physical aspect ratio is of a digital imax screen, but I've never heard of a digital imax movie presented in 1.78. I don't think 1.78 is used theatrically. It's an AR for the TV screen, not big screen.

[Dubstar]

Originally Posted by Eric The Duke

I don't know what the physical aspect ratio is of a digital imax screen, but I've never heard of a digital imax movie presented in 1.78. I don't think 1.78 is used theatrically. It's an AR for the TV screen, not big screen.

I thought I had read it was, but according to this picture it's 1.90

in spoiler due to size of image

[Show spoiler]

here's the comparison for the presentations of 'Star Trek Into Darkness'

[Eric The Duke]

Originally Posted by Dubstar

I thought I had read it was, but according to this picture it's 1.90

in spoiler due to size of image

[Show spoiler]

here's the comparison for the presentations of 'Star Trek Into Darkness'

That picture is fan-made so it's not information from the IMAX corp. While I agree with most of the information there, the larger IMAX version wasn't in 1.43 aspect ratio.

[RandyK]

So if Into Darkness gets the shifting aspect ratios on the blu ray release, would the aspect ratios be 2.40:1 and 1.78:1? I don't know much about IMAX formats so sorry if this is a stupid question.

[blu-ray_girl_fan]

Originally Posted by Randyman94

So if Into Darkness gets the shifting aspect ratios on the blu ray release, would the aspect ratios be 2.40:1 and 1.78:1? I don't know much about IMAX formats so sorry if this is a stupid question.

Yes, the picture can only go as tall as your TV. If they went with 1.44:1, the image would have pillars on the sides. You can see this if you get The Dark Knight 2-disc DVD. The second disc has the IMAX sequences in their original aspect ratio.