Oblivion 4K UHD (2013)

[Geoff D]

You know that photos of such events rarely do either display type any justice, right guys? People are always so quick to dismiss photos of screens (with good reason) but whenever a few hurried snaps of an industry event pop up folks seize on them as if they're gospel. Strange.

[Drewbee87]

Missed this in theaters, knew it had a special version made for IMAX. Was a bit disappointed when it came out on Blu-ray and it didn't end up being open matte though. Mostly because 90% of the promotional images were open matte captures...

[Geoff D]

I saw the open matte version of Tron Legacy (also directed by Joe Kosinski) on TV a few months back and thought it looked really good, and that's probably the only way to see the opened up version of Oblivion too though it'd be awesome if the UHD was the open matte version.

[Deciazulado]

I can't wait to see all the open matte versions made in the last 60 years. Wait. I did. on TV and VHS.

[Geoff D]

Yes yes, very droll. I'm not some mad crazy "AH WANT IT OPEND UP TER FILL MAH SKREEN!!!" kinda dude but I saw Tron in 1.78 and thought it looked fine, and from the looks of those Oblivion shots it doesn't scream "I was composed for 2.40!" to me, unlike something like Skyfall which looks far too roomy in the 1.78 version.

[wesslan]

I also hope for a open matte(imax) version in 4K. Seems like some movies airs in hdtv in different aspect ratio and sometimes even blu-rays in some countries get the other version.

[dvdmike]

Originally Posted by Deciazulado

I can't wait to see all the open matte versions made in the last 60 years. Wait. I did. on TV and VHS.

It had switching ratios in IMAX

[Deciazulado]

Well when it changes, it's open matting it. the pics above have the empty space above and below that a widescreen movie transferred in AcademyTV open matte has.

Anyway real IMAX presentations are big enough that you watch the Scope field of view of a Scope movie at the same size or bigger than if you watched the Scope movie in a normal theater, then the open matte scenes come and they give you a more immersive field of view (but kind of subliminal as it fills to the periphery of your vertical field of view) plus IMAX filmed resolution advantages if any, but you're still watching the Scope composed area at the same size within that additional immersiveness.

To recreate that at home you'd sit at 4 feet from a 65" when watching the 4K disc, farther away the open matte shots are pleasant at home because they're larger than the smaller than intended field of view you experience by not having a 150" Scope screen.

[Geoff D]

Indeed, that's exactly Brad Bird's reasoning for not opening up Ghost Protocol or Tomorrowland on Blu-ray, he uses it as more of a "subliminal" thing in IMAX theaters and knows that most people are going to be watching on a 40" in their living room from 12ft away so there's no reason to add the extra height. But I sit 6ft from a 55" and while that's not exactly all-encompassing in terms of immersiveness it certainly makes "full screen" stuff seem quite imposing.

[applemac]

Originally Posted by Dubstar

Yeah well give IMAX some credit they are not completely stupid or archaic

Credit for what? Providing subpar large screen experiences that are much worse than their previous offerings? Being behind the curve in technology in regards to sound systems? Developing new digital cameras that are going to be less quality than Panavision's recent announcements? IMAX as a premium format for filming and projecting is a thing of the past. At least they still maintain a few 15/70 cameras.

[applemac]

Originally Posted by dvdmike

It had switching ratios in IMAX

Oblivion had a consistent 1.9:1 in IMAX, not switching ratios.

[FilmFreakosaurus]

Originally Posted by applemac

Credit for what? Providing subpar large screen experiences that are much worse than their previous offerings? Being behind the curve in technology in regards to sound systems? Developing new digital cameras that are going to be less quality than Panavision's recent announcements? IMAX as a premium format for filming and projecting is a thing of the past. At least they still maintain a few 15/70 cameras.

True. They're getting way behind the power curve because they decided to go cheap on projectors and cameras, and use proprietary audio formats rather than Dolby Atmos.

[dvdmike]

Originally Posted by applemac

Oblivion had a consistent 1.9:1 in IMAX, not switching ratios.

The flashbacks were in scope were they not?

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by dvdmike

The flashbacks were in scope were they not?

Apparently so, yes

[Dubstar]

Originally Posted by FilmFreakosaurus

True. They're getting way behind the power curve because they decided to go cheap on projectors and cameras, and use proprietary audio formats rather than Dolby Atmos.

why would they go with Atmos, that'd be like Starbucks selling dunkin donuts.

Originally Posted by applemac

Credit for what? Providing subpar large screen experiences that are much worse than their previous offerings? Being behind the curve in technology in regards to sound systems? Developing new digital cameras that are going to be less quality than Panavision's recent announcements? IMAX as a premium format for filming and projecting is a thing of the past. At least they still maintain a few 15/70 cameras.

you know what's a dying sound system - Auro and for the most part DTS-X (theater installs, studio backing)

[FilmFreakosaurus]

Originally Posted by Dubstar

why would they go with Atmos, that'd be like Starbucks selling dunkin donuts.



you know what's a dying sound system - Auro and for the most part DTS-X (theater installs, studio backing)

Like any other movie studio. Sony using Atmos isn't like Starbucks selling Dunkin, for instance. They have no immersive format nor does it look like they will be doing anything Sony-wise.

And by proprietary, I mean IMAX uses 12 channel PCM with a unique speaker layout. By using a limited, channel-based system that requires no licensing fee, they're going the cheap route.

Atmos can do 64 speakers (34 at home) - a bit more sophisticated.

[Dubstar]

Originally Posted by FilmFreakosaurus

Like any other movie studio. Sony using Atmos isn't like Starbucks selling Dunkin, for instance. They have no immersive format nor does it look like they will be doing anything Sony-wise.

And by proprietary, I mean IMAX uses 12 channel PCM with a unique speaker layout. By using a limited, channel-based system that requires no licensing fee, they're going the cheap route.

Atmos can do 64 speakers (34 at home) - a bit more sophisticated.

I'm referring to IMAX, not Sony, IMAX is not going implement another companies sound format. However sound mixer's can use DTS-X's MDA software to create both a theatrical immersive mix and also use it for it's IMAX 12-channel mix - as 'Avengers: Age of Ultron' IMAX-laser mix was culled from.

[Kris Deering]

Originally Posted by FilmFreakosaurus

Like any other movie studio. Sony using Atmos isn't like Starbucks selling Dunkin, for instance. They have no immersive format nor does it look like they will be doing anything Sony-wise.

And by proprietary, I mean IMAX uses 12 channel PCM with a unique speaker layout. By using a limited, channel-based system that requires no licensing fee, they're going the cheap route.

Atmos can do 64 speakers (34 at home) - a bit more sophisticated.

True, but they are also doing something that is consistent. If IMAX were to do something like Dolby Cinema and bake in a consistent theatrical venue with the same sound/video specs, it makes it more of a turnkey solution with more consistent results. Plus if they tailored the audio to the rooms specifically, they may not need the bajillion speakers of Atmos. The scalability of Atmos is outstanding for commercial cinema because it expands or contracts based on the size of the venue and the system takes that into account. That isn't really as necessary with a fixed system if IMAX is consistent in their venues.

I've been to the Seattle IMAX which features their new 12 speaker immersive audio setup and 4K laser projectors. The audio is as good as anything I've heard anywhere, and I've been to Dolby Cinema and I've also heard the Cinerama right down the street, which is as close to a cost no object state-of-the-art public cinema as I think you can get anywhere in the world. The quality of the audio isn't dictated nearly as much by how many channels as how well those channels are implemented, calibrated and how good the auditorium was designed.

[Dubstar]

Originally Posted by Kris Deering

True, but they are also doing something that is consistent. If IMAX were to do something like Dolby Cinema and bake in a consistent theatrical venue with the same sound/video specs, it makes it more of a turnkey solution with more consistent results. Plus if they tailored the audio to the rooms specifically, they may not need the bajillion speakers of Atmos. The scalability of Atmos is outstanding for commercial cinema because it expands or contracts based on the size of the venue and the system takes that into account. That isn't really as necessary with a fixed system if IMAX is consistent in their venues.

I've been to the Seattle IMAX which features their new 12 speaker immersive audio setup and 4K laser projectors. The audio is as good as anything I've heard anywhere, and I've been to Dolby Cinema and I've also heard the Cinerama right down the street, which is as close to a cost no object state-of-the-art public cinema as I think you can get anywhere in the world. The quality of the audio isn't dictated nearly as much by how many channels as how well those channels are implemented, calibrated and how good the auditorium was designed.

and that's a key distinction - of the IMAX-laser 12-channel mixes I've heard, some have been hit or miss, many because of the largeness of the screen seem to be very front heavy and as a result mask the sound cues from the ceiling speakers ('Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation' in Atmos was far and away superior over IMAX-laser's 12 channel mix) Atmos on the Tysons' ETX / (now) Dolby Cinema screen can and have been overbombastically loud - 'The Revenant' was an excellent example of an Atmos mix not wanting to blow out it's patrons ear with overtly loud sound. Arclight Bethesda's two Atmos sound systems are better calibrated and are sonically superior to Tyson's system - conclusively, like 3D, an immersive audio system will radically differ to how auditoriums are configured, their size and volume setting

[dvdmike]

Problem with Atmos is most mixers have no idea what to do with it, and most mix to 5.1 and its upmixed later