DLP theatres (specifically Cinemark Legacy in Plano, TX)

Trent_N · 06-13-2004, 11:20 AM

Anyone know why The Legacy is so spotty about what DLP movies they are currently showing? They have two projectors and right now, no DLP movies are being shown. Shrek 2 got one week and Day After Tomorrow 3. Harry Potter was never on DLP and neither is Riddick.

Peter Apruzzese · 06-13-2004, 04:13 PM

Could be several reasons:

1. Not every film is made available in digital form. Very few releases are.

2. Their DLP system might be down - they are notoriously unreliable. We have heard of a failure rate of nearly 10% (meaning 1 in 10 shows are cancelled due to hardware failure).

3. There might be no financial advantage to them continuing DLP presentations after the one week.

Jason Seaver · 06-13-2004, 05:30 PM

I notice there's much less DLP at Loew's Boston Common, too. According to the web film release guide, neither Harry Potter nor Riddick had DLP releases.

The films this year that did, working backwards, are The Day After Tomorrow, Shrek 2, Troy, Van Helsing, Home On The Range, Scooby Doo 2, Starsky & Hutch, and Miracle. Nothing else on that schedule until Shark Tale in October, but I don't know how far in advance that information is available.

And I'm in the "good riddance" category if it's becoming less popular, anyway. It doesn't look as good as film, especially on a large screen or from close-up. And if DLP is as unreliable as Peter says, then I see even less reason for theater owners to go for it.

Dean Martin · 06-13-2004, 05:58 PM

Quote:

And I'm in the "good riddance" category if it's becoming less popular, anyway. It doesn't look as good as film, especially on a large screen or from close-up.

Is that from the standpoint that you have seen DLP in the theater or are you referring to DLP in a home setting?
DLP projector images used in a theater, I believe, are quite different from the home equipment. The fact you said large screen or close-up leads me to believe you are referring to home DLP equipment.
I have not seen DLP in a theater but I do have a DLP TV and an Infocus X1 DLP projector.
I am curious how DLP in a theater does actually compare to film.

Jason Seaver · 06-13-2004, 06:40 PM

I mean in a theater. I like to sit up front to get the screen to fill as much of my field of vision as possible, and during DLP screenings I've always noticed jaggies in the credits, sometimes a kind of screen-door effect (although I believe that was the first weekend Boston Common had it, for Attack of the Clones, so they may just not have been familiar with the equipment yet), and generally not as clear a picture as film. I've not dealt with DLP at home.

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Ricardo C · 06-13-2004, 09:31 PM

Commercial-grade DLP projectors are certainly several notches above their HT siblings, and the source material is perfect, but they still use the same 1280x720 resolution as the home projectors, and that simply doesn't sound like enough for a commercial-sized screen. Then again, there are no DLP cinemas here, so my assumptions may be off. But theoretically, I would think it would be jaggie city.

Matthew Todd · 06-14-2004, 10:37 AM

Quote:

but they still use the same 1280x720 resolution as the home projectors, and that simply doesn't sound like enough for a commercial-sized screen

I believe the commercial theater DLPs are 1920x1080, although I'm not positive about that either. It still isn't enough for a large commercial size screen, especially if you like to sit really close.

Matt

Lew Crippen · 06-14-2004, 10:39 AM

I’ve been to that theater several times Trent and often seen the same film back-to-back (DLP and film).

As to the why of their not using more DLP projection, I have no answer. But after watching closely, I do not think that it is a preferable way to see a movie, so long as projection on film has a print that is reasonably clean (which this theater mostly has).

I do think the DLP makes a better comparison to film for movies that were digitally created (e.g. Shrek 2 than ones such as Harry Potter.

Tim Glover · 06-14-2004, 04:31 PM

This theater was awesome when it had Star Wars: Episode II-Attack Of The Clones running in DLP. The image was stellar and the sound system was also terrific.

Alot of great memories with Cinemark-Legacy during the summer of 2002.