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
I’m no old-school cinephile, but I’ve listened to enough of them to understand that if you’re really into the nitty gritty details and love soaking in every corner of a filmed image, there is no substitute for a large print screening. But YMMV.
If you are a film student. Yes. For most folks 5 hours is a lot of driving.
Film is the way that Christopher Nolan intended but the digital versions exist just so that most people can experience it. Don’t feel like you missed out if it’s just too much driving. The story is what is key. Not the projection technology.
I’ve never actually seen anything in 70mm IMAX, so idk! But I love the vibe of analog film and the way it looks, so to experience Nolan in the way he intended it at essentially 16k resolution is likely going to be incredible. Five hours is quite a lot though, especially to then watch a three hour movie. Maybe if you made a weekend out of it and stayed at a hotel or camped somewhere? I’m lucky that the closest one to me is only a 45 minute drive
I wasn’t able to get tickets to see the film version, so I’m going to see it in Dolby Vision. If any movie should take advantage of HDR it should be one about nukes.
They do have scenes that are VFX but all non-vfx shots are not scanned and digitally manipulated. The digital sections are recorder to film then cut into the film footage. So for the scenes that don’t have VFX you get to see what the film process looks like.
King of Prussia seats (center-ish and towards the back) are basically reserved out until August. Even if you want to drive out there you’ll have to wait. That’s how rare these projectors are lol.
15/70 is the IMAX film format, using horizontal frames, 70 mm tall and 15 perforations across, in comparison to regular 70mm (large format) film which has much smaller frames turned vertically that are ~5 perforations tall.
I’m going to make a 3 hour drive to my closest real IMAX. Haven’t had the pleasure to even see a mini IMAX film and am a fan of Nolan’s work so I’ll make the time.
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.
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.
This is why I own a high-end projector and a badass sound system. The stereo and speakers are for music first and video second. It’s not convenient as I don’t have (or want to accommodate blackout curtains), but it’s the best movie experience hands down for ^^ these reasons.
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?
I bought an unknown brand on amazon for 250 maple syrup dollars and I’m pretty sure everything it says on the box is true. It’s 1080p native and 450 lumens. I use it to watch movies outside. I have to wait until sunset but otherwise I’m really happy with the picture quality. This is the one I got. I think if you got anything less it would probably be okay for your needs, but you might regret not getting something better the first time.
I’ve seen friends all buy types of these thinking they will get some good one and be impressed, 1080p, 3000lumens etc, all the specs say yes but the experience… no.
Go for an entry level from a brand that does projectors, eg I got Optoma but there’s Epson, even acer is fine. I got a 720p with 1080p source, or BluRay rips and it looks very legit.
Of course you can go higher, but sounds like you just wanted to start out… Optoma H183 I think is mine.
Never owned one, but I have a hard time believing that $40 pocket projectors are any good. LED projectors at that price range are going to be pretty dim, so you’ll absolutely need a dark room and to buy a proper projection screen if you want to see what’s going on. I think most of those are also 720p, maybe 1080p. The speakers on such a projector are going to be awful, tinny garbage.
For the price of $40 1080p projector, $50 screen, and $60 Bluetooth sound bar, you could get a 43" 4k tv that’s on sale somewhere.
Honestly? if you are streaming from your phone then basically the cheap aliexpress projectors or even just a tv in a bright room is fine. And regardless, if you just pay attention to sales, you can get a pretty good 4k tv for not a lot of money at this point.
Same with audio. I have no idea if the phone adds any additional constraints, but a lot of streaming content has questionable surround sound (was it netflix that “got caught” basically just sending stereo and calling it 5.1?).
Unless you are going to go hard on your source material, you are honestly not going to get much beyond the family room tv and a soundbar. And you can use all the money you saved on tricking out a phone dock for something useful.
I would say that for (again, percentage out of my ass) 99% of people out there (… self included), all you really need is a cheap namebrand 4k tv (get it in a sale), a soundbar, and one of the nvidia shields that supports dlss upscaling. That will get you the visual quality and good enough sound quality. I personally have a plex server full of ripped blurays (uhd and normal) and a 5.1 setup, but I am stupid.
I think you are misunderstanding some assumptions.
This will be for a “Manc-Ave” (SO ref) that I will likely, get maybe, at most a movies worth of my own time… And I do intend to watch all the scary moves that my wife won’t allow down there… so that’s a plus, although thet get boring quick.
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
Serious question, does it actually make that much of a difference? It’s it worth me driving 300 minutes to see?
I’m no old-school cinephile, but I’ve listened to enough of them to understand that if you’re really into the nitty gritty details and love soaking in every corner of a filmed image, there is no substitute for a large print screening. But YMMV.
If you are a film student. Yes. For most folks 5 hours is a lot of driving. Film is the way that Christopher Nolan intended but the digital versions exist just so that most people can experience it. Don’t feel like you missed out if it’s just too much driving. The story is what is key. Not the projection technology.
I’ve never actually seen anything in 70mm IMAX, so idk! But I love the vibe of analog film and the way it looks, so to experience Nolan in the way he intended it at essentially 16k resolution is likely going to be incredible. Five hours is quite a lot though, especially to then watch a three hour movie. Maybe if you made a weekend out of it and stayed at a hotel or camped somewhere? I’m lucky that the closest one to me is only a 45 minute drive
I wasn’t able to get tickets to see the film version, so I’m going to see it in Dolby Vision. If any movie should take advantage of HDR it should be one about nukes.
Ooh that’ll probably be really good too!!
Nolan’s films have 0 CGI or digital special effects?
Less than you’d think.
They do have scenes that are VFX but all non-vfx shots are not scanned and digitally manipulated. The digital sections are recorder to film then cut into the film footage. So for the scenes that don’t have VFX you get to see what the film process looks like.
I used to work a campus projection booth. We once got a print of The Dark Knight where an entire reel was green. No idea how that got past QC.
We made a point of watching every film before showing it to an audience to find and splice out any bad frames.
How do you find a film-IMAX theatre these days? Is this link accurate?
https://www.imax.com/news/oppenheimer-in-imax-70mm
Because if so, almost all of us are shit out of luck. I live in DC and I’d have to drive 2hr or so.
King of Prussia seats (center-ish and towards the back) are basically reserved out until August. Even if you want to drive out there you’ll have to wait. That’s how rare these projectors are lol.
My cousin is flying across half of Canada to stay at my place so we can watch it on 15/70.
What is 15/70? It’s not a date, not a time
15/70 is the IMAX film format, using horizontal frames, 70 mm tall and 15 perforations across, in comparison to regular 70mm (large format) film which has much smaller frames turned vertically that are ~5 perforations tall.
Thinking about it now, I probably should have guessed it given the context. Hindsight and all that. 😆
I’m going to make a 3 hour drive to my closest real IMAX. Haven’t had the pleasure to even see a mini IMAX film and am a fan of Nolan’s work so I’ll make the time.
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.
This is why I own a high-end projector and a badass sound system. The stereo and speakers are for music first and video second. It’s not convenient as I don’t have (or want to accommodate blackout curtains), but it’s the best movie experience hands down for ^^ these reasons.
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?
I bought an unknown brand on amazon for 250 maple syrup dollars and I’m pretty sure everything it says on the box is true. It’s 1080p native and 450 lumens. I use it to watch movies outside. I have to wait until sunset but otherwise I’m really happy with the picture quality. This is the one I got. I think if you got anything less it would probably be okay for your needs, but you might regret not getting something better the first time.
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
I’ve seen friends all buy types of these thinking they will get some good one and be impressed, 1080p, 3000lumens etc, all the specs say yes but the experience… no.
Go for an entry level from a brand that does projectors, eg I got Optoma but there’s Epson, even acer is fine. I got a 720p with 1080p source, or BluRay rips and it looks very legit.
Of course you can go higher, but sounds like you just wanted to start out… Optoma H183 I think is mine.
Check out “The Hook Up” on YouTube. He has tested pretty much every projector on Amazon at this point.
Here’s his “under $100” video: https://youtu.be/2QOLL2TvpJ0
Here is an alternative Piped link(s): https://piped.video/2QOLL2TvpJ0
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I’m open-source, check me out at GitHub.
Never owned one, but I have a hard time believing that $40 pocket projectors are any good. LED projectors at that price range are going to be pretty dim, so you’ll absolutely need a dark room and to buy a proper projection screen if you want to see what’s going on. I think most of those are also 720p, maybe 1080p. The speakers on such a projector are going to be awful, tinny garbage.
For the price of $40 1080p projector, $50 screen, and $60 Bluetooth sound bar, you could get a 43" 4k tv that’s on sale somewhere.
Honestly? if you are streaming from your phone then basically the cheap aliexpress projectors or even just a tv in a bright room is fine. And regardless, if you just pay attention to sales, you can get a pretty good 4k tv for not a lot of money at this point.
Same with audio. I have no idea if the phone adds any additional constraints, but a lot of streaming content has questionable surround sound (was it netflix that “got caught” basically just sending stereo and calling it 5.1?).
Unless you are going to go hard on your source material, you are honestly not going to get much beyond the family room tv and a soundbar. And you can use all the money you saved on tricking out a phone dock for something useful.
I would say that for (again, percentage out of my ass) 99% of people out there (… self included), all you really need is a cheap namebrand 4k tv (get it in a sale), a soundbar, and one of the nvidia shields that supports dlss upscaling. That will get you the visual quality and good enough sound quality. I personally have a plex server full of ripped blurays (uhd and normal) and a 5.1 setup, but I am stupid.
I think you are misunderstanding some assumptions.
This will be for a “Manc-Ave” (SO ref) that I will likely, get maybe, at most a movies worth of my own time… And I do intend to watch all the scary moves that my wife won’t allow down there… so that’s a plus, although thet get boring quick.
And even within imax, there’s differing qualities of the projector. It’s all quite complicated and seems to be intentionally obfuscated.