http://www.azcentral.com/ent/movies/articles/2008/05/05/20080505imax0...

BTW, I thought it was "flux" capacitor, not "flex" capacitor.

More important, is the image quality from 2 digital projectors enough to
call the system "Imax?" I suspect it will be as good as Imax as a medium
from presenting movies shot in S-35 and cropped to 2.35, then letterboxed
into an Imax frame, but not good enough to replicate something shot in Imax.

Lincoln

http://www.azcentral.com/ent/movies/articles/2008/05/05/20080505imax0...

BTW, I thought it was "flux" capacitor, not "flex" capacitor.

Also, IMAX screens are not curved enough to apply that word.
More important, is the image quality from 2 digital projectors enough to

Like 3-panel Cinerama, 70mm Imax was simply too expensive and
cumbersome to remain viable. In both cases, retaining the brand name
while cutting back on the quality was the easiest path (a tradition in
American business). And in both cases, it was a nice ride while it
lasted.

More important, is the image quality from 2 digital projectors enough to
call the system "Imax?" I suspect it will be as good as Imax as a medium
from presenting movies shot in S-35 and cropped to 2.35, then letterboxed
into an Imax frame, but not good enough to replicate something shot in Imax.

Lincoln

In article <fb0b8ea0-0aaa-4554-a2d4-db81cdb92fd9
at (no spam) m45g2000hsb.googlegroups.com>, imat3... at (no spam) bellsouth.net says...

Like 3-panel Cinerama, 70mm Imax was simply too expensive and
cumbersome to remain viable.  In both cases, retaining the brand name
while cutting back on the quality was the easiest path (a tradition in
American business).  And in both cases, it was a nice ride while it
lasted.

More important, is the image quality from 2 digital projectors enough to
call the system "Imax?" I suspect it will be as good as Imax as a medium
from presenting movies shot in S-35 and cropped to 2.35, then letterboxed
into an Imax frame, but not good enough to replicate something shot in Imax.

Lincoln

You got that right.  Cinerama is best remembered as a unique three panel
system and IMAX is best remembered as a system using a 15 perf 65mm film
negative.  Anything less than these specs just ain't the real deal.

Marty
--
The American WideScreen Museumhttp://www.widescreenmuseum.com/

I don't see deployment happenning very quickly. Lots of Imax cinemas are
probably like the OMSI situation in Portland. It has been a debt ridden
museum from the beginning and have had very little in the way of keeping up
the slide projectors, let alone swapping out their 15-70 system for digital.
They still run all the Imax movies on 35mm full coat for sound instead of
the CD or DVD based sound systems available. They will want to keep getting
those expensive prints until the upkeep of the mechanical projector gets too
expensive to maintain.

In article <yKCWj.322$LL.211 at (no spam) trnddc04>,
in Technicolor® <cinerama at (no spam) verizon.net> wrote:
I don't see deployment happenning very quickly. Lots of Imax cinemas are
probably like the OMSI situation in Portland. It has been a debt ridden
museum from the beginning and have had very little in the way of keeping
up
the slide projectors, let alone swapping out their 15-70 system for
digital.
They still run all the Imax movies on 35mm full coat for sound instead of
the CD or DVD based sound systems available. They will want to keep
getting
those expensive prints until the upkeep of the mechanical projector gets
too
expensive to maintain.

Do they own the machine or do they lease it?

I can see Imax having a much easier time than existing 35mm
distributors in imposing the digital system on its users. Since
most Imax projectors are leased, they could just swap them out for
the "newer" (inferior) model. Assuming that they make available
their entire back catalog of 15/70 titles, it doesn't seem as if
this would produce much resistance from theatre operators, with
the possible exception of those who want to run non-Imax 15/70
material (is there much of this now?).

On the other hand, does anyone know if the "digital Imax" system
has been tested on dome screens?

Personally, I think that the whole idea of replacing 15/70 with 2K
DLP projectors sounds pretty dumb, though. The only way that I could
see this looking even remotely like Imax would be if they had a huge
array of 2K DLP units with custom software to do the image alignment and
hide the seams. Supposedly, though, they are just using two 2K units.

--
Scott Norwood: snorwood at (no spam) nyx.net, snorwood at (no spam) redballoon.net
Cool Home Page: http://www.redballoon.net/
Lame Quote: Penguins? In Snack Canyon?

"Scott Norwood" <snorwood at (no spam) redballoon.net> wrote in message
news:g0f58n$pfm$1 at (no spam) reader2.panix.com...

In article <yKCWj.322$LL.211 at (no spam) trnddc04>,
in Technicolor® <cinerama at (no spam) verizon.net> wrote:
I don't see deployment happenning very quickly. Lots of Imax cinemas
are
probably like the OMSI situation in Portland. It has been a debt ridden
museum from the beginning and have had very little in the way of
keeping up
the slide projectors, let alone swapping out their 15-70 system for
digital.
They still run all the Imax movies on 35mm full coat for sound
instead of
the CD or DVD based sound systems available. They will want to keep
getting
those expensive prints until the upkeep of the mechanical projector
gets too
expensive to maintain.

Do they own the machine or do they lease it?

I can see Imax having a much easier time than existing 35mm
distributors in imposing the digital system on its users. Since
most Imax projectors are leased, they could just swap them out for
the "newer" (inferior) model. Assuming that they make available
their entire back catalog of 15/70 titles, it doesn't seem as if
this would produce much resistance from theatre operators, with
the possible exception of those who want to run non-Imax 15/70
material (is there much of this now?).

On the other hand, does anyone know if the "digital Imax" system
has been tested on dome screens?

Personally, I think that the whole idea of replacing 15/70 with 2K
DLP projectors sounds pretty dumb, though. The only way that I could
see this looking even remotely like Imax would be if they had a huge
array of 2K DLP units with custom software to do the image alignment and
hide the seams. Supposedly, though, they are just using two 2K units.

--
Scott Norwood: snorwood at (no spam) nyx.net, snorwood at (no spam) redballoon.net
Cool Home Page: http://www.redballoon.net/
Lame Quote: Penguins? In Snack Canyon?

I don't know the particulars re: leasing vs. ownership.

How does the rental market work for Imax and other 15/70 films? Do some
venues actually buy their prints. It seems we run the same few titles
into the ground while other facilities have a wider range of titles.