The New Movie Technologies

Three D (3D), with its funny glasses, is nothing new. Surround sound has been around for a long time, too. For those of you as old as me, remember the curved ‘cinemascope’ screens?

All of these advancements have been made to enhance our feeling of ‘being there’ when watching a movie in a theatre or cinema. But they were all missing something....something, I’m pleased to say, that has now come to a theatre near you.

Digital cinema, in my opinion, is the only important development in the industry in decades. The reasons are obvious.

·         You can now watch the equivalent of high definition television images on a screen the size of a house.

·         No longer do you have to watch a washed-out looking third generation film print that comes complete with scratches, burn holes and grain.

·         The image is stable as a rock, since they’re not dragging film sprockets over registration pins as in a traditional projector.

·         Because the movie originates on a hard drive rather than big reels of film stock, the presentation is not limited to the jittery 24 frames-per-second rate. Smoother pans are now possible since, in the digital domain, algorithms can be applied to correct such artifacts.

·         No more pops and clicks. Again, sound originates from an entirely digital source.

What really motivated me to write this was my recent viewing of Avatar®. The story line didn’t get my bum into the seat at the theatre. It was interesting, but not the most compelling movie I’ve ever seen. As a contractor for one of the companies that makes digital cinema projectors here in Ontario (and that supplied my local theatre), I was keen to see what digital projection, coupled with 3D technology, could do.

It was immediately clear to me that the same effect could not have been produced with film-based 3D. The timing was definitely right for Mr. Cameron to release this epic. Technology made it work. Any artifacts I detected were minor, brief and probably undetectable by the general populace. This was a perfect experience, flawless from corner to corner. I even found myself twitching to dodge a projectile that seemed to fly off the screen and whiz right by my head!

So what’s next for the cinema experience? In my humble opinion, the quality and resolution of the visual presentation is now approaching the limits of what we humans can discern. So, maybe the wrap-around screen will make a comeback, or holograms. How about the stimulation of other senses, such as smell and touch?

And what about the home theatre? If the recent Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas is an accurate indicator, 3D HDTV will soon be coming to a living room near you. Think of it. Not only will you have to find the remote in the couch, but maybe your 3D glasses as well.