How laser projection is taking IMAX even further over the top
Yet, to hear IMAX’s exuberant Chief Technology Officer Brian Bonnick tell it, when it comes to competitors, IMAX has no fear.
“We live the niche.” Bonnick says. “They don’t.”
He has a point. While not all of IMAX’s theaters boast mega screens like the one in its headquarters, even in its smaller theaters, IMAX’s curated sound and projection systems, its wrap around screens, and its stringent regulations and 24/7 support make it among the most sought-after theater experiences in existence.
But this latest creation is the first to use a single projector that provides the full “IMAX with Laser” experience on smaller IMAX screens (where an 80-foot tall screen still counts as “smaller”), making it less expensive and easier to implement in more theaters.
For its new projectors, IMAX has essentially miniaturized its laser tech to cut costs for smaller theaters, where IMAX uses wrap-around screens placed closer to the audience to keep its all-important peripheral immersion. The system offers a 1.9:1 aspect ratio (as opposed to the GT’s 1.43:1) and requires less maintenance than dual-projector systems, which must be calibrated and digitally enhanced to meet IMAX’s rigorous specifications for a perfectly synced image.
Instead of forcing laser light through glass prisms like traditional xenon projectors (and even Dolby’s laser projection system), IMAX’s laser projectors send red, green, and blue lasers directly to each of three modulation chips (called Digital Micromirror Device chips) mounted on an Invar frame, which reduces the amount of optical glass the image must pass through.
Bonnick says when it comes to “interframe contrast” where multiple shades of whites and blacks are shown on screen at once, IMAX’s system has the advantage because it’s actually creating a black image. “When Dolby goes black, they are actually turning off two of the chips,” Bonnick says. He claims this makes IMAX’s laser system better at showing realism, whereas Dolby Cinema, he admits, wins with some sci-fi content.
Unlike the object-based, 3D sound delivered by Atmos, which allows for as many as 64 individual speakers in a theater to deliver singular placement of “sound objects,” IMAX’s system is a more old-school.
The company uses massive, horn-loaded speakers developed in-house to create a 12-channel sound system, and unlike every other surround system in existence, it also allows for full-range audio signal delivery to the bass channel. Frankly, when it comes to ultimate surround immersion, we’ll still take Atmos, as it simply has more speakers to work with, and therefore, more options.
“Our biggest group is fanboys,” Bonnick told us, and they’ve been ready and willing to pay up for IMAX’s grander theaters. This is the “experience first” generation, after all, where 20-somethings are much more apt to go out for a good meal or hit a club than spend money on possessions or clothing. When younger audiences do get off their phones to go to a theater, Bonnick said, they want a premium experience. That fits IMAX to a T...
Bonnick sees a future where the 24-theater multiplex is slowly replaced by 10 or 12-theater venues, with an IMAX screen at one end, and a feature-tied VR parlor (or something similar) in the lobby.
See the full story here: https://www.digitaltrends.com/home-theater/imax-with-laser-tour/