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Dolby Cinema

111-JEDI

111-JEDI

Active member
⭐️⭐️PATRON⭐️⭐️
Joined
Dec 27, 2022
Messages
39
Location
Texas
Would love to learn more about your real-life experiences with Dolby Cinema - where you experienced the new dual-projectors awarded earlier this year (2024).

Per Dolby: "...Dolby Cinema uses a Dolby Vision projection system developed by Dolby Laboratories in conjunction with Christie Digital. The system consists of dual Christie 4K 6P (primary) modular laser projectors featuring a custom design to allow for unique light path."

“The Academy recognizes and celebrates all aspects of the film industry and the diverse, talented people who make movies,” said Academy CEO Bill Kramer. “Our Scientific and Technical Awards are a critical part of this mission, as they honor the individuals and companies whose discoveries and innovations have contributed in significant and lasting ways to our motion picture industry.”

"To Michael Perkins, Gerwin Damberg, Trevor Davies and Martin J. Richards for the design and development of the Christie E3LH Dolby Vision Cinema Projection System, implemented in collaboration between Dolby Cinema and Christie Digital engineering teams.

The Christie E3LH Dolby Vision Cinema Projection System utilizes a novel dual modulation technique that employs cascaded DLP chips along with an improved laser optical path, enabling high dynamic range theatrical presentation.
Meet the Academy Award-winning Christie E3LH Dolby Vision Cinema Projection Solution

Each of those cost ~$500,000 USD
 
111-JEDI said:
Would love to learn more about your real-life experiences with Dolby Cinema - where you experienced the new dual-projectors awarded earlier this year (2024).
Click to expand...
There's a Dolby Cinema screen at an AMC about a 30 minute drive from my house. Basically, it's the only theater screen I'll go to. If I can't catch it there, I'm likely to simply wait until I can get it on K at home. (There are very few exceptions.) The same AMC theater has an IMAX screen, but while I find the IMAX audio to be louder, I prefer the Dolby Cinema audio.

The best experience I had was likely Avatar: The Way of Water. Disregarding the film content itself, the 4K HFR Dolby Vision 3D was unlike anything I had experienced visually at a theater. It was one of those "You can't see this at home" type of events.* I went back to see it in the IMAX Laser 3D for comparison, and again found I preferred the Dolby Cinema.

It's just a wonderful theatrical experience and one worth actually going to. Unfortunately, movies tend to be on that screen for as little as 5-6 days, so you really have to jump right on it. Once movies have moved to normal "digital" screens, I lose interest.

(*An Apple Vision Pro paired with home theater audio does a very good job of replicating this at home.)
 
LoveCinema said:
There's a Dolby Cinema screen at an AMC about a 30 minute drive from my house. Basically, it's the only theater screen I'll go to. If I can't catch it there, I'm likely to simply wait until I can get it on K at home. (There are very few exceptions.) The same AMC theater has an IMAX screen, but while I find the IMAX audio to be louder, I prefer the Dolby Cinema audio.

The best experience I had was likely Avatar: The Way of Water. Disregarding the film content itself, the 4K HFR Dolby Vision 3D was unlike anything I had experienced visually at a theater. It was one of those "You can't see this at home" type of events.* I went back to see it in the IMAX Laser 3D for comparison, and again found I preferred the Dolby Cinema.

It's just a wonderful theatrical experience and one worth actually going to. Unfortunately, movies tend to be on that screen for as little as 5-6 days, so you really have to jump right on it. Once movies have moved to normal "digital" screens, I lose interest.

(*An Apple Vision Pro paired with home theater audio does a very good job of replicating this at home.)
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That sounds awesome! I'm going to have to experience that. And, I love to try out new tech; the Apple Vision Pro is very cool.
 
One of the greatest challenges of projectors and Dolby Vision HDR is the singularity of source light, so brightness intended in one area gets to be complicated act of physics and precision as the light source is singular in home theater projector. Comparatively, high-end OLEDs have a relative easier solution - with individual pixel control, higher contrast and brightness and 12 Bit ... getting into 68 billion colors. The idea of Christie and Dolby working together on dual laser projectors is a great solution. IMAX also uses two laser projectors.

For home theater projectors, what is leading right now...JVC, Barco, Sony? What's high on your wish list for best home theater projector?
 
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111-JEDI said:
For home theater projectors, what is leading right now...JVC, Barco, Sony? What's high on your wish list for best home theater projector?
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If one has the space and the means, Christie Eclipse is essentially the "home theater" version of the Dolby Cinema projector. The latest version around the corner is supposed to integrate the lasers into the projector head. I'm using a Christie M 4K15 right now. My dream projector is a similar-sized, quiet, true 4k, 20k-lumen PJ with 100% REC.2020 color coverage.
 
wilson said:
If one has the space and the means, Christie Eclipse is essentially the "home theater" version of the Dolby Cinema projector. The latest version around the corner is supposed to integrate the lasers into the projector head. I'm using a Christie M 4K15 right now. My dream projector is a similar-sized, quiet, true 4k, 20k-lumen PJ with 100% REC.2020 color coverage.
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I've heard great things about the Christie M series! Nice. The Eclipse looks amazing, might need a separate room for the chilling equipment. Check out the Barco Heimdall - "Heimdall is Barco Residential’s first single chip Native 4K projector for exquisite resolution and detail. The RGB laser light engine provides 100% of the BT2020 color gamut, ensuring faithful reproduction of every color in every movie." -Barco https://www.barco.com/en/residential/products-and-tools/projector-product-range/Heimdall-plus
 
We´re selling modified Christie projectors (getting 10.000:1 cr) and have a M-4K25 RGB installed in our showroom. It´s small and light, but indeed pretty loud (comes with the small form factor).
The Christie Eclipse is actually not really an option IMHO. Initially developed for planetariums, it requires extensive service during operation as the two units (technically, it´s actually two projectors in series) need permanent convergence correction. Let´s see what the next version looks like and if it ever will be available for non-commercial use.
In terms of picture quality, the Barco Nerthus is currently my favorite. It´s the sharpest image i´ve ever seen and convergence can be corrected to perfection. It covers 100% rec.2020 and has enough light to adequately (means: 250/300 nits for HDR) illuminate even larger screens.
 
I'm like @LoveCinema if I venture out to see a movie it's Dolby Cinema, the whole experience is top notch, and regular theaters don't do it for me anymore. It's the sum of all parts that does it for me, the build of the theater, seating, sound, screen and of course the projector.

This is a really good behind the scenes of the technology behind Dolby Cinema

 
DieZwei said:
In terms of picture quality, the Barco Nerthus is currently my favorite. It´s the sharpest image i´ve ever seen and convergence can be corrected to perfection. It covers 100% rec.2020 and has enough light to adequately (means: 250/300 nits for HDR) illuminate even larger screens.
Click to expand...
With very large (and/or low gain) screens, JVC doesn't have enough horsepower, and one needs to look at Barco, Christie, etc. The limitation there is the native contrast and black levels, but the other specs are impressive.

Out of curiosity, when using a screen where the NZ900 has enough lumen output (for example my 166: diagonal, ST130-G4, non-perf), how would the image quality compare with a Barco or Christie (e.g. the Nerthus you mention)? I realize a projector with super high lumens would be overkill for that size screen, but I'm just trying to get a sense for the 'apples to apples' picture quality where screen size is taken out of the equation.

I had a chance to see a Christie M-4K25, with the 'High Contrast' lens (not modded), and while the bright scenes looked quite good, the black levels in others were very distracting, and for me at least, outweighed the benefits for less challenging scenes.

Just curious.
 
Yes, blacklevels can be an issue if you´re used too JVC and really focused on that.
For me, the overall pq is a summation of a lot of different factors, and black level is just one of them.
So for me (and a lot of our customers), the benefits of a bright picture with RGB colors outweight the lack of black level.
BTW, a NZ900 on a 166" screen wouldn´t be bright enough for me (how much nits do you get?), so the better black level wouldn´t help in this case.
The Christie UHC lens provides 6.000-7.000:1 on/off contrast, our modded lens provides 10.000:1. This is a significant difference. If you´re looking at very low ADL content, then the difference to a JVC (or Sony) is still clearly visible (i wouldn´t try to fool you into a "you won´t notice" because it´s just not true). But as soon there are some objects are displayed, the difference disappears quickly and the brighter image can show all it´s benefits.
For smaller screens (up to ~140"), we usually would recommend to go for a consumer JVC or Sony. But there are new options on the table even for a smaller budget when combined with a video processor.
 
Thanks for the helpful reply. And I agree, that black level is not the only indicator of picture quality. But if it is really poor, the impact for many is tough to tolerate.

I have the NZ9 (3000 lumens) with a DCR, get around 132 Nits max, and watch HDR at 114 Nits, with Aperture at -9. Subjectively the image is spectacular, and I don't find myself wishing for it to be brighter.

But I have been curious regarding some advocating for higher Nits in a theater, recommending 300 and up. I had a chance to play with the Christie 4K860 in my own theater, so I could directly compare it with my JVC. With On/Off at around 1300:1, it obviously is in a different category than the projectors you're talking about, but the high lumens (around 8500) gave me a chance to observe higher net HDR. Its tone mapping was terrible, so I paired it with my Envy Extreme MK2 for comparisons.

I was able to get 340 Nits on my screen with the 4K860 running full out. Brighter scenes were quite enjoyable, and I appreciated the extra brightness, but with any darker elements or scenes, the black levels were just awful.

I then ramped down the Christie laser to match the 114 Nits of my JVC, and for most content I preferred it at 114 vs the 340, primarily because of the improved black levels. They improved from horrible to really bad! ;)

Comparing the JVC to the Christie at the same 114 Nits was about what you would expect - no comparison. The JVC looked dramatically better.

Because I am frequently working with people having or planning on large and/or low gain screens, where the Sony's (other than the GTZ380) and JVC's don't have the horsepower to properly light them, I have been exploring viable alternatives. Hence my question to you, and I appreciate your input.

I am also curious about the rumors of some revolutionary new dynamic laser dimming with the Christie - I am of course skeptical, not knowing the artifacts and downside that seem to inevitably occur, but this could be a game changer in the world of high lumen output projectors if it lives up to the claims I've heard made.
 
DLCPhoto said:
I then ramped down the Christie laser to match the 114 Nits of my JVC, and for most content I preferred it at 114 vs the 340, primarily because of the improved black levels. They improved from horrible to really bad! ;)
Click to expand...
Yeah, you compared an excellent (though pretty dim ;)) image with a too bright (as i mentioned, we think the 250-300nits is the range to go, with 300 really being on the edge) image from a projector with horrible contrast. Well...
I haven´t seen the 4K860 yet. But we´re dealing solely with the RGB lasers M-4K15/25 and the Griffyn. Everything else is not suitable for home cinema use.
DLCPhoto said:
I am also curious about the rumors of some revolutionary new dynamic laser dimming with the Christie - I am of course skeptical, not knowing the artifacts and downside that seem to inevitably occur, but this could be a game changer in the world of high lumen output projectors if it lives up to the claims I've heard made.
Click to expand...
Yes, i´m sceptical too, although we´re a Christie dealer. As usual, the hype is mostly from people who don´t know much about it.
DLCPhoto said:
Because I am frequently working with people having or planning on large and/or low gain screens, where the Sony's (other than the GTZ380) and JVC's don't have the horsepower to properly light them, I have been exploring viable alternatives. Hence my question to you, and I appreciate your input.
Click to expand...
If black level is really high on the priority list, then we usually go for the GTZ 380 as an alternative. But that´s not cheap as well. We will soon get the new Barco I600 - that´s a high lumen projector with a very reasonable price tag (in the JVC 900 range).
 
LoveCinema said:
There's a Dolby Cinema screen at an AMC about a 30 minute drive from my house. Basically, it's the only theater screen I'll go to. If I can't catch it there, I'm likely to simply wait until I can get it on K at home. (There are very few exceptions.) The same AMC theater has an IMAX screen, but while I find the IMAX audio to be louder, I prefer the Dolby Cinema audio.
Click to expand...

Southcenter? I agree, the Dolby room is better than the imax. It’s a good theater, I’m never disappointed, but if im going to go to a theater I’m partial to the SIFF Downtown.
 
thrillcat said:
Southcenter? I agree, the Dolby room is better than the imax. It’s a good theater, I’m never disappointed, but if im going to go to a theater I’m partial to the SIFF Downtown.
Click to expand...
Alderwood, but same thing. And, yes, SIFF Downtown is one of my exceptions. :)
 
In Dallas: AMC NorthPark Center and AMC Village on Parkway both have Dolby Cinema.
 
This is one of the things I was annoyed to discover that Portland does not have, moving from San Francisco. The full list is:

1. Dolby Cinema
2. Great North Indian food
3. Japanese Shabu Shabu

Portland at least has other life essentials:

1. IMAX
2. Great Italian food
3. Good bubble tea, coffee, old fashioneds

To make up for the lack of a Dolby Cinema here, I installed a laser projector and Atmos speaker system in my theater. So, more Faux-lby Cinema, but I still had a plaque made for it!

IMG_7346.jpeg
 
That is a great idea - and very well executed. Looks like the real deal.
 
Edgar said:
This is one of the things I was annoyed to discover that Portland does not have, moving from San Francisco. The full list is:

1. Dolby Cinema
2. Great North Indian food
3. Japanese Shabu Shabu
Click to expand...
Great list. Dallas finally got a Michelin star for ... drum roll ... Japanese restaurant. Tatsu Dallas
 
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