Cinema image still sucks in 21st century!

[pandys-box]

I keep reading articles about cinema picture quality and how it compares to Blu-Ray. To be perfectly honest I find the quality about the same quality as VHS or early DVD. You still get scratches, black specs, long black hairs and the picture jumps everytime a major scene ends and the next begins, not to mention a massive amount of grain. This is the U.Ks major cinema chain 'Cineworld' which has over 130 cinemas in the country. Also I was looking forward to seeing some films in 3D like Bolt, Monsters vs Aliens but no cinemas the south of London has any 3D projectors so I don't think 3D cinema will take off for maybe 7-10 years. The only time I have been mildly impressed at the cinema was for Revenge of the Sith in London's Odeon Leicester Square when it was shown in digital. Compared to Blu-Ray i'm afraid cinema doesn't come anywhere close.

[Seretur]

Cinema does come close, and can even surpass Blu-ray, if the projector is good, the screen is good, everything is properly set, the projectionist knows what he or she is doing, and the print is in good shape.

But there are too many variables, and too many projectionists these days are kids who think of it as a McJob.

So yeah, you're better off getting a good Blu-ray and watching it at your properly calibrated setup at home. Most times.

Digital projection will take away some of the variables from the above, meaning that the cinema experience will start improving, as you have seen yourself. There have been some really nice digital theaters around Leicester Square for the past several years -- I saw The Proposition in one, and was blown away. And that's certainly not a movie you'd think of when it comes to digital moviegoing experience.

[xander]

Here's a giant mega thread that might be of interest to you if you wish to debate the merits of theaters versus Blu.

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=55443

[GORT]

Another over done usless thread

[Nielsb90]

alright guys.. I know you allways want us to search the forum before starting a thread, but it just doesn't work for me.. Every time I search I find completely unrelated threads to the words i searched for! For example: I know there is a thread that says something like this: ``How long did it take you to reach 50 blu's?´´ I wanna find it, right? So I search: ``how long 50´´ and the only thing that pops up is page 1 of all the threads..! Im really trying but the search fundtion is COMPLETELY useless to me!! Anyone know what im doing wrong??

[qube]

Originally Posted by GORT

Another over done usless thread

This post sure brought the quality of the thread up though.

On topic: There will always be something special about the theater experience that can't be re-created in the home though, no matter how good your setup is. I find it hard to compare because they are totally different animals. I don't go to the theater for PQ, I go for the experience.

Though with ticket and concession prices nowdays, I don't go as often as I used to.

[clrb15]

Originally Posted by qube

This post sure brought the quality of the thread up though.

On topic: There will always be something special about the theater experience that can't be re-created in the home though, no matter how good your setup is. I find it hard to compare because they are totally different animals. I don't go to the theater for PQ, I go for the experience.

Though with ticket and concession prices nowdays, I don't go as often as I used to.

I TOTALLY agree with this!

No matter how GOOD your set-up is, seeing the movie on a HUGE SCREEN with HUGE SOUND just makes the movie and can really affect if you like the film or not in the end.

Also seeing the movie with a number of people who ACTUALLY took time to go to the theatre and WANT to see the movie also affects the viewing expereince...It's a communal experience that can't be re-created in a home theatre.

Ticket prices are expensive but the expereince alone is worth it.

[kefrank]

Originally Posted by qube

On topic: There will always be something special about the theater experience that can't be re-created in the home though, no matter how good your setup is. I find it hard to compare because they are totally different animals. I don't go to the theater for PQ, I go for the experience.

Though with ticket and concession prices nowdays, I don't go as often as I used to.

I agree (and I'm someone that has a front projector setup at home). Regardless of image quality, watching a movie at home will never quite match the theater experience.

[Blu Jacket]

Originally Posted by qube

This post sure brought the quality of the thread up though.

On topic: There will always be something special about the theater experience that can't be re-created in the home though, no matter how good your setup is. I find it hard to compare because they are totally different animals. I don't go to the theater for PQ, I go for the experience.

Though with ticket and concession prices nowdays, I don't go as often as I used to.

Absolutely true. At home I don't have the experience of gabby people sitting next to me, or distracting cell phones, or people blocking my view when they get up.

[reece]

Originally Posted by Seretur

Cinema does come close, and can even surpass Blu-ray, if the projector is good, the screen is good, everything is properly set, the projectionist knows what he or she is doing, and the print is in good shape.

But there are too many variables, and too many projectionists these days are kids who think of it as a McJob.

So yeah, you're better off getting a good Blu-ray and watching it at your properly calibrated setup at home. Most times.

Digital projection will take away some of the variables from the above, meaning that the cinema experience will start improving, as you have seen yourself. There have been some really nice digital theaters around Leicester Square for the past several years -- I saw The Proposition in one, and was blown away. And that's certainly not a movie you'd think of when it comes to digital moviegoing experience.

so does digital projection sort of share the same weaknesses as blu ray? (such as digitized grain and motion blur and such)

[fighthefutureofhd]

Originally Posted by pandys-box

I keep reading articles about cinema picture quality and how it compares to Blu-Ray. To be perfectly honest I find the quality about the same quality as VHS or early DVD. You still get scratches, black specs, long black hairs and the picture jumps everytime a major scene ends and the next begins, not to mention a massive amount of grain. This is the U.Ks major cinema chain 'Cineworld' which has over 130 cinemas in the country. Also I was looking forward to seeing some films in 3D like Bolt, Monsters vs Aliens but no cinemas the south of London has any 3D projectors so I don't think 3D cinema will take off for maybe 7-10 years. The only time I have been mildly impressed at the cinema was for Revenge of the Sith in London's Odeon Leicester Square when it was shown in digital. Compared to Blu-Ray i'm afraid cinema doesn't come anywhere close.

there's a massive amount of grain because the movie was shot on film which naturally has grain. you can't escape it unless you shoot enitrely on digital cameras and such. but who would want to do that? that's just insane.

[William H Pratt]

not to mention a massive amount of grain

Grain is your FRIEND!

[Dubstar]

Originally Posted by pandys-box

I keep reading articles about cinema picture quality and how it compares to Blu-Ray. To be perfectly honest I find the quality about the same quality as VHS or early DVD. You still get scratches, black specs, long black hairs and the picture jumps everytime a major scene ends and the next begins, not to mention a massive amount of grain. This is the U.Ks major cinema chain 'Cineworld' which has over 130 cinemas in the country. Also I was looking forward to seeing some films in 3D like Bolt, Monsters vs Aliens but no cinemas the south of London has any 3D projectors so I don't think 3D cinema will take off for maybe 7-10 years. The only time I have been mildly impressed at the cinema was for Revenge of the Sith in London's Odeon Leicester Square when it was shown in digital. Compared to Blu-Ray i'm afraid cinema doesn't come anywhere close.

I saw Sith twice once in digital and 35mm, guess which one was a better presentation, surprise, surprise the latter. The colours were richer and very dark darks. Digitally the presentation was lacklustre at best.

Hollywood wants to think that going digital is the trend, but with the cost of DLP and DLP 3D systems still prohibitively expense, the conversion is still at a snail's pace.

for a while I had been seeing some really badly mass produced 35mm prints but some recent films have been stunning and recaptured how film will always benefit any day over 'digital'

[JamesKurtovich]

If you don't like going to the movies because of other people then my recommendation is stay out of any public place.

And if your feet stick to the floor, then find another spot. There's a ton of seating..