LG Electronics is wowing moviegoers in Taiwan with the opening of the world’s first movie theater equipped with LG LED Cinema Display technology featuring Dolby’s cinema server solution and Dolby ... LG Features First Movie Theater based on LG LED Cinema Display
@dragonlord based on what? not saying they are bad, but non of their stuff is used by "pros"/theaters so far. it wont replace many projectors in theaters as well, as a lot just upgraded to digital stuff in recent years, and probably wont even have the funds to swap HW, and bigger (chains) wont for now, as they need to make money (after covid).
What benefits are there to this over a projector? A failure for a screen this size would be a disaster if it's not modular.
It's already ridiculously expensive to go to the cinema nowadays. Imagine how much they would charge after replacing all their projectors with these
Current theaters have digital projectors costing hundreds of thousands of dollars...and VERY expensive custom made screens that are very prone to damage. This solution will be cheaper, faster, and better in every way in the very near future, if not now. If the price of a movie ticket was based at all on the cost of providing it to you, then this would lower prices and improve quality and reliability. But that price is set by the studios and is "what the market will bear". These screens are modular, of course. I've played with them personally. They'll cost dollars a module when they ramp up production. And, of course, you'll be able to do the same thing at home in the near future as prices inevitably drop into the floor, since this doesn't have the heat lamp issues that even modern digital projectors suffer from. In short, there is literally nothing that a current digital movie theater projection system does now that this new approach won't be superior to. These will be brighter, cooler, more cost efficient, have perfect blacks, can replaced and repaired easier, and will no longer require a projection booth or the scaling needed to correct projection distortion above the audience (in some configurations). I expect there will be versions of these panels that can even be used outdoors. I hope that helps.
I think I mentioned this before: I would never pay money to go and watch a big television. Movie houses make money from popcorn and confectionery, that is literally thousands of a percent in profit. Ticket prices are determined by the distribution company, and, prevailing ticket prices. The exception to this would be 'premium' seating, but that 'extra' charge is not passed on to the distribution company. What I am getting at is this, if I bought a ticket to see a movie, and I walked in to find a television...I'd walk out and get a refund. The other side of this is, movie projection is vastly superior to television, because it is actual light being reflected back into my eyeballs - and the current cinema systems are extremely well set up for the kind of color bit depth via laser projection. These are not lamps. Laser projection DOES have perfect blacks - it simply does not projection any light onto that specific part of the screen. The cost of maintaining a projection booth is virtually zero (service contracts), as all technology is in one place at one time, versus a big screen that someone can throw a drink at on the way out... Another thing is the actual movie itself is delivered in a cartridge that is then placed into a central system. Each frame of the movie is an uncompressed PNG file, that is independantly encrypted and watermarked. Every frame. This will not translate into a big television, as there is no protection/security for the distribution company. If you didn't know about watermarking - this is invisible watermarking that can be picked up by digital cameras, so if a copy finds its way onto the 'net, the distribution company can scan the image and locate:- 1) the cinema 2) the copy number 3) time of day That cannot be done using a big television system, as the cartridge systems themselves will not unlock the movie unless the correct encryption key is inserted into the corresponding projector. Oh, they are also time-locked, too.
@dragonlord thought about the fact that theater screens are usually perforated to let the sound thru? once you have screens like these there wont be any speakers behind it, so virtually every sound that should be coming from there (dialog etc) wont. even if its cheaper on the long run, who is paying for the conversion? and who covers the income loss during the time the theater gets "upgraded"? how about smaller/local/non mega-chain theaters that cant shell out the cash? just because something is "better" doesnt always equal best solution for everyone.
Atmos and other modern sound systems do not require speakers behind screens. And the original article makes it clear that Dolby, et al, are already on board. They have quite strict requirements.
So, in the reverse, you're saying that if you walked into someone's home and they had a projector-based home theater system you'd walk out? Seriously, movie theaters moved to digital projections using encrypted DCP files long ago. There is literally nothing preventing these DCPs from being played on a PC to a TV vs. a projector of any kind. In fact, I have done this myself (mastered encrypted feature film DCPs for theatrical distribution) for over a decade now. All you need is the key and software like EasyDCP. In short, a modern digital projector is just a PC playing the DCP file to the projector (as a monitor) all in one unit. They just charge a fortune for it because it's "proprietary". Movie projection is NOT "superior to television" because it's "reflected light". Light getting to the eyes is light getting to the eyes. The path it takes to get there is irrelevant, of course. The reason movie projection WAS superior is that the lights were so bright that you could illuminate a huge area AND get a lot of brightness to each user. It's all about the nits. Projectors also has some flexibility to handle screens of varying sizes depending on space constraints, etc. But, when it comes to movie theaters, that only really mattered at the initial installation phase. However, in ANY projection (laser or LCD) system we ALWAYS lose light due to the varying reflective nature of every screen. Superior coatings give less lost light. But there ALWAYS is loss. Now, with an emissive system like this and enough nits of brightness (re: calibrated as HDR, etc.), there's no need for all of the wasted space, cost, and energy of the old 20th century solutions. The screen is the source. Whether you grok or not, systems like this are already in use in high-end post-production houses all over the world, because they offer superior results (in every measure!) to the old way of doing things. They use less power and create less heat (than bulb systems), can deliver theater levels of brightness, perfect blacks (by definition), use less physical space at both ends (ideal for ANY environment), support higher frame rate content and displays, supports encryption and watermarking (of course!), are easier to calibrate to professional standards and maintain over time, no sightline issues in entertainment installations, more flexible construction options, and, because they are modular, are easier/cheaper to repair, expand, or contract as needed. When I said that this is the future of home theater, I wasn't just being hyperbolic. It is the present of modern high-end post-production houses. It is the very near future of movie theaters (assuming anyone ever goes back to them post-Covid). And it will obviously trickle down to high end home theaters first and then to everyone else not long after. I hope that helps!
The charge has nothing to do with the establishment, and, movies being projected onto a screen is better than a television - which is what you are talking about, however you dice it up; it's a big tv and therefore not worth the money of the ticket. The ticket price you pay is for projection onto a big screen, not to watch a tv. As for me going to someone's house and me walking out, it would really depend on how good their security system is Never needed it.
