the future of imax: laser projectors, smaller cameras, and more movies - laser video projector

March 25 will be an important day for superhero movie lovers.
This is the opening of Batman v.
Superman, these characters are on the scene for the first time. action movie. (
This will also be the first feature-
Movie Performances by Wonder Woman and water Ranger. )
This is a big movie, which is released on 30,000 screens around the world-
Office staff: 2D, 3D, 4DX and IMAX 3D.
You can read the technical specifications of IMAX on Wikipedia, but you know the basics: filmmakers use a huge camera with huge movie spools (
Or a huge hard drive for digital video)
Shoot a video on a huge screen.
In the past, you 'd see 40-
Minute nature film at the Science Museum.
Today, IMAX is a way to get people out of the home theater and into the real cinema to watch big movies --
Budget blockbuster on huge screen with incredible resolution.
Celebrate the opening of Batman v. Superman(
I have some curiosity myself)
Recently, I spoke to Brian Bonnick, chief technology officer at IMAX about the technology.
David Boger: Is IMAX still that big?
Format movies and those huge cameras?
Brian bonick: in fact, it has changed, as you don't believe. The film-
Projector-based does not really change a lot.
They get better and cheaper, but they don't really change in their core design.
But we moved to the numbers [in 2008]
This has gone through many iterations.
We keep updating the computers that power the system.
They are getting stronger and stronger, which means we can do more things with it.
We recently launched our laser projection system. a ground-
The next step-
Use the laser generation system.
Most other players use laser lighting to increase their brightness. That’s great.
However, we are trying to solve three key problems that have plagued the digital projector: insufficient brightness, insufficient contrast and insufficient clarity.
All this has to do with prism.
The light is reflected into this prism, bouncing back from three chips, producing red, blue and green pixels.
But now each of your chips is hit by stray light.
This reduces the contrast of the image.
So we threw away the prism.
We have adopted what we call the framework design.
Instead of installing these chips on a piece of glass, we installed them on the frame in the correct position.
By removing the glass, we eliminate any Cross
So our contrast took a big step up.
Then, through this open framework, we used invar [a nickel-iron alloy]
It is one of the hottest stable materials on Earth.
So while we still have expansion and contraction, all components have the same expansion and contraction speed relative to the other component.
Combined with the changes in the system optics and the lens of our own custom design, we get incredibly clear images on the screen.
In my opinion, it has now surpassed the world benchmark of the past, the IMAX 15/70 film.
We use dual projectors.
All digital projectors have "screens-
Door effect ", this is where you see the little black line between pixels. The dual-
The projector system was reduced by 50% immediately.
DP: two projectors: is it 3D or all IMAX?
Yes, obviously, we use dual projectors in 3D.
But we also use a 2D dual projector because we get double pixels on the screen.
DP: Is this the kind of thing where the pixel alignment is slightly offset between two projectors to eliminate the screen-door effect?
A little more complicated than this, but this is basically accurate.
Where can someone see the new laser projection system?
BB: only a few theaters have been transformed so far
Most of them are the biggest.
There's a list on IMAX. com/laser. [
There are six in the United States. S.
With more coming]
DP: So far, only a few scenes have been filmed in IMAX's feature film. (
For example, The Dark Knight clips the 28-minute IMAX lens into a traditional film.
Task: Impossible
The maximum current of Ghost Month Protocolhad minutes. )
In these films, the aspect ratio of the image jumps back and forth between the IMAX segment and the non-IMAX segmentIMAX.
What's going on with this?
This is entirely the creative decision of the filmmakers.
When they make the Hunger Games movie, every time the footage goes back to the arena, the filmmaker expands the aspect ratio to the full IMAX format.
It creates a different emotional experience because obviously you're surrounded and more engaged with the storyline.
But why not make the whole movie with IMAX?
First of all, this requires a certain cost.
There is also a creative element that they try to highlight an integral part of the movie, as they did in The Hunger Game.
Usually, the IMAX camera will be very good when you are in a very wide area
Open vista shooting
Because they have such a resolution, they can capture the best details
However, if you do close-ups on someone's face, you can spend it with less.
So you choose your camera based on what you are trying to achieve in the lens.
DP: So the only reason to shoot the whole movie without IMAX is the cost?
BB: there is no technical reason why you can't do this.
The upcoming Avengers: unlimited war film, part one and part two, will be the first full film
The length feature film can be taken entirely with the IMAX camera. DP: [
Note: nature of pre-
The digital film camera is another factor. As Tested.
Com said, "the IMAX movie camera is very heavy, the sound is very loud, it takes a long time to reload the movie, the installation options on the camera platform are limited, that's why so far no Hollywood movie has been filmed entirely with 70mm IMAX. ”]
Now the IMAX camera is a digital camera.
Does this make them smaller and able to go where they can't go before? BB: Yes and no.
Our 3D working horse camera is slightly larger.
You can't fit it on the wing of the plane. Our 2D film-
Based on the camera and our 3D30 film-based cameras —
It actually went into space.
Smaller, maybe 2 feet by 1 feet by 10 inch.
The next generation 2D digital camera based on Arri technology is undoubtedly more operational.
It can be held in hand, placed on the rig and on your shoulder.
DP: I was under the impression that IMAX, as a way to counter people going back to their hometown to watch movies, is very attractive to film studios.
So when I see people watching movies that were originally filmed for IMAX, I find it interesting, like the back seat of the plane.
Does this scare you as chief technology officer at IMAX?
Well, I don't understand when I see my kids looking at IMAX with their iphone.
This is definitely not the way the filmmaker wants you to watch his movie.
I don't support it.
Our belief is that IMAX is the best. of-Family experience.
Of course, considering that home products are getting better and better, people's requirements are getting higher and higher.
So it's important for us to launch it and improve our presentation and sound quality.
This is what I do day after day!
DP: there is some controversy about the fact that many malls have IMAX cinemas that are not as big as 70mm IMAX screens.
How do you answer critics?
Because the size of the auditorium is different, there is no standard IMAX screen size.
When IMAX first launched nearly 50 years ago, its purpose was --
Built-in auditorium for larger screens and larger audiences.
The way the theater was built changed when we were close to 2000, with the focus on multi-channel playback.
We know that if we want to develop an IMAX network, we need a way to design an IMAX experience for these environments.
Our R & D team created a theater design that removed the first few rows of seats and brought the floorto-ceiling, wall-to-
Walls, curved screens are closer to the audience to give full play to their view.
When choosing the location of the IMAX cinema, we will look for the largest auditorium in the multi-Hall.
Our design team will determine whether the size and shape meet our strict requirements.
If not, we would not have installed the system.
We know that the first thing you often notice when you walk into the theater is the screen size (
Relative to your height)
, If customers get used to one of our purposes, they may be surprised at the beginning --built theaters.
But IMAX is more important than screen size.
There are several other elements.
Special acoustic treatment, all customized
Built-in technology, re-mastering of images and sounds
All this together creates an immersive experience.
This is all about IMAX. The experience.
Once the lights are out, we believe that the audience will be attracted to the film, because the theater is designed to provide the same perspective as our largest theater (
As the audience approaches the screen more than their purpose --built theaters)
This will be the best experience in their area.
How did you get in touch with the filmmakers?
Are they approaching you or are you approaching them?
A few years ago, we would have attended these meetings with the studio.
We will sit at the children's table.
Now, we are in a position to choose the movie we want and reject the movie we don't want.
The need to use our camera is completely-time high.
I don't think we have been to this place before.
For every movie we make, we refuse four or five.
This is partly because we are a company that is "one movie at a time" because IMAX is a diverse screen.
We like to insist on watching movies instead of showing different movies every weekend.
For example, Star Wars started broadcasting on December 18 and played for more than a month.
Obviously there are other films coming out in December and January, but we have to say, "Sorry, our screen is dedicated to Star Wars.
DP: What is the roadmap for the future?
We just started the laser system and we just started our next-
Sound system-12-channel.
We have a history of more than 10 years in DMR technology.
Re-Mastering Digital Media
Conversion standard-
Resolution movie in Resolution format]
We constantly improve the quality and make the image more original.
In the film age, our first set of tools was designed to help reduce the grain content in the film.
But you don't have film particles when we turn to numbers, but you do have electronic "noise "[Random spots.
So, this is a different question.
As far as our projector is concerned, our GT laser projector is designed for more than 80 feet screens.
We are thinking about the early design phase of something smaller than this.
David Boger is the founder of Yahoo technology.
Here's how to get his column by email.
He's David Pogue on the Internet. com.
He's @ pogue on Twitter.
He is Yahoo's boss in the mail. com.
He welcomes Africa.
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