4K theaters?

[vanvideo]

I was watching The Avengers this weekend (great movie, btw) at a Regal-owned 3D theater, and before the movie started, a graphic came up that said it was a 3D 4K theater (it might have said Sony, but I don't recall).
Is that right - there's 4K movie theaters?

 

[mburkefilms]

http://www.amctheatres.com/sony4k

 

[vanvideo]

So, if The Avengers was shot with Alexas, which have 2.5K resolution, how does it become a 4K movie? or does it use two projectors projecting images at 2K each, and call that 4K?

 

[Jordan Scott Price]

I think, just because it is a 4K projector, doesn't mean it can only output 4K media. It would seem very unwise of Sony to make something, and then AMC to install something, that isn't backwards compatible, given there are plenty of cameras that don't output that high a resolution and many cinema delivery formats are, at most, 2K.

I saw The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo at an AMC theater on a 4K projector (marvelous, by the way), but at that same screen a month before was some romantic comedy, which was definitely not delivered in 4K.

 

[Razz16mm]

2k DCI is scaled to 4k by the projector. Go see Girl with the Dragon Tattoo in a 4k theater. Shot finished and distributed end to end in 4k digital on Red 1 MX and Red Epic. Regal converted 36 screens in my area from 35mm film and 2k projection to 4k projection between Thanksgiving and Christmas last year. It's here.

 

[Gary Huff]

Watched The Avengers and Hunger Games in Sony 4K projection, and you can definitely tell, especially when the focusing is just slightly off.

 

[zijital]

My buddy works for Classic Cinemas in Chicagoland & said they've completely upgraded to 4K in all of their theaters (I think they still have one & only one 35mm projector in the entire chain).

http://www.classiccinemas.com/

 

[KyleProhaska]

Watched The Avengers and Hunger Games in Sony 4K projection, and you can definitely tell, especially when the focusing is just slightly off.

Well Hunger Games had an issue with focus to begin with

 

[Postmaster]

A friend of mine is a projectionist in a 4k equipped theater.
He said that a lot of visitors always say what difference 4k makes.
Actually they only showed one 4k film, when they opened the new theater, everything else was 2k.

Believing is seeing

 

[Samuel H]

^ good one

 

[Postmaster]

Good read: http://carltonbale.com/does-4k-resolution-matter

 

[Razz16mm]

Good read: http://carltonbale.com/does-4k-resolution-matter

Doesn't address the issue of much higher MTF of a 4k image in the 1.6k detail range that we can see at normal viewing distances. The image just looks richer and more vibrant due to better micro contrast even when you can't resolve finer detail.

 

[zeke]

Good read: http://carltonbale.com/does-4k-resolution-matter

He didn't include front projectors which will offer 15' or larger screen sizes. I'm only saying this because the new Red projector is supposed to be
around 10K USD, which puts it into the enthusiats realm.

 

[dwhite601]

The authors calculations match mine, but I have concluded that we will benefit from 4K ... someday. I noticed that 60"-80" HDTV's are pretty cheap these days. According to a local salesman, they are selling a lot of them. We're entering a world where 55" really will be considered 'tiny'.