How are Cinemas supposed to stay in business when they don't even provide a high quality experience?

Auditor55

Auditor55

Audioholic General
Dobly Cinema is the one that is $20 a ticket and after seeing a few big movies in it, I don't mind paying it for those kinds of "should see in the theater" kind of blockbusters.
FWIW, its $18.50 in my area. I usually go early to get in for $12.50.
 
j_garcia

j_garcia

Audioholic Jedi
Not true IMAX though, however I agree, Dolby Cinema, in my opinion, is the best theater experience right now.
Agree. I was more referring to the "sort of" IMAX theaters that most chains have today, not the real deal like the Domes and actual dedicated IMAX theaters with IMAX film projectors.
 
killdozzer

killdozzer

Audioholic Samurai
Anyway, I would find it very strange if you told me I miss that one extra speaker to understand what you mean. In fact, I would be inclined to say that the theater you visit is worse than what I have at my disposal. No offense, I understand you might live in a big city or close to one, but it's different when it is the capital. You get all the best toys and treats.
 
j_garcia

j_garcia

Audioholic Jedi
But the curved screen is what IMAX is all about, am I wrong? The theater I linked has the curved screen. Surface area enough to build a house on. one of the biggest in Europe (333m2 or 3584 square feet),the projector is a serious toy:


And so on.
That's a real one, so yes should be top notch. The film projectors are likely the best quality available still, but the 8K laser projector looks pretty darn stunning too. Toss up. I was impressed with it and I am more of a "film" kind of guy.

The theater I go to is in a crappy mall, in a not so nice area, but the theater is brand new. It is in a central location near a freeway and has a ton of parking, so for whatever reason, they put it there (probably cheaper). For IMAX, we watch on a dome.

https://www.thetech.org/imax/presentations/about-hackworth-imax-dome-theater
 
killdozzer

killdozzer

Audioholic Samurai
Even if it's not, as I said, no amount of speakers will win me over if I already think that going down the road of multiple speakers is silly. When I'm in the cinema and I hear that the sound of a helicopter moves around me, I just feel silly. Like a little child. Like I'm in an amusement park. It is not my thing, it is, simply, not what I like about movies.

But we moved away from the topic. Only reason I joined was to say that in my case movie theaters don't depend on technology. As long as they provide rare and hard to find movies, I'll pay a fair price.

This movie for example was very, very hard to find. It was out in 2010 and I think I first saw a lousy Youtube version in 2016. And this was a piece of social coment on Chinese society and if you see it late it becomes worthless (almost).
 
Auditor55

Auditor55

Audioholic General
Even if it's not, as I said, no amount of speakers will win me over if I already think that going down the road of multiple speakers is silly. When I'm in the cinema and I hear that the sound of a helicopter moves around me, I just feel silly. Like a little child. Like I'm in an amusement park. It is not my thing, it is, simply, not what I like about movies.

But we moved away from the topic. Only reason I joined was to say that in my case movie theaters don't depend on technology. As long as they provide rare and hard to find movies, I'll pay a fair price.

This movie for example was very, very hard to find. It was out in 2010 and I think I first saw a lousy Youtube version in 2016. And this was a piece of social coment on Chinese society and if you see it late it becomes worthless (almost).
With that being said, would you take you kids or children to one of those amusement park movies or amusement park theatrical experience?

Also, I understand what you are saying, so of those sound mixers go crazy, whereas the sound supposed to enhance the realism of a film, their misuse of it, can take you right out of the movie.
 
Montucky

Montucky

Full Audioholic
Even if it's not, as I said, no amount of speakers will win me over if I already think that going down the road of multiple speakers is silly. When I'm in the cinema and I hear that the sound of a helicopter moves around me, I just feel silly. Like a little child. Like I'm in an amusement park. It is not my thing, it is, simply, not what I like about movies.
Multiple speakers are silly, eh? So you don't do stereo sound? Good on ya for rocking a mono setup. Old school!

And what's wrong with a bit of fun once in a while? Although sometimes being so gimicky it can certainly take you out of the movie a bit, but it can also be silly fun and that's ok too. When immersive audio is done right though, and often times it IS much more subtle, it can really draw you into a film. Sometimes it's just hearing the background noise in a crowded train station, the rain gently falling, birds chirping in the distance, etc. I love it, but hey different strokes and all that.
 
TheWarrior

TheWarrior

Audioholic Ninja
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That, is IMAX!

That entire globe IS the screen.

Anything less, is just a big screen!
 
killdozzer

killdozzer

Audioholic Samurai
Multiple speakers are silly, eh? So you don't do stereo sound? Good on ya for rocking a mono setup. Old school!

And what's wrong with a bit of fun once in a while? Although sometimes being so gimicky it can certainly take you out of the movie a bit, but it can also be silly fun and that's ok too. When immersive audio is done right though, and often times it IS much more subtle, it can really draw you into a film. Sometimes it's just hearing the background noise in a crowded train station, the rain gently falling, birds chirping in the distance, etc. I love it, but hey different strokes and all that.
No need to play deffense. The point was this: cinemas will not loose my money for being less gimmicky than what one can have at home. Just that.
 
killdozzer

killdozzer

Audioholic Samurai
With that being said, would you take you kids or children to one of those amusement park movies or amusement park theatrical experience?

Also, I understand what you are saying, so of those sound mixers go crazy, whereas the sound supposed to enhance the realism of a film, their misuse of it, can take you right out of the movie.
Exactly!
 
Y

yepimonfire

Audioholic Samurai
Multiple speakers are silly, eh? So you don't do stereo sound? Good on ya for rocking a mono setup. Old school!

And what's wrong with a bit of fun once in a while? Although sometimes being so gimicky it can certainly take you out of the movie a bit, but it can also be silly fun and that's ok too. When immersive audio is done right though, and often times it IS much more subtle, it can really draw you into a film. Sometimes it's just hearing the background noise in a crowded train station, the rain gently falling, birds chirping in the distance, etc. I love it, but hey different strokes and all that.
Even if it's not, as I said, no amount of speakers will win me over if I already think that going down the road of multiple speakers is silly. When I'm in the cinema and I hear that the sound of a helicopter moves around me, I just feel silly. Like a little child. Like I'm in an amusement park. It is not my thing, it is, simply, not what I like about movies.

But we moved away from the topic. Only reason I joined was to say that in my case movie theaters don't depend on technology. As long as they provide rare and hard to find movies, I'll pay a fair price.

This movie for example was very, very hard to find. It was out in 2010 and I think I first saw a lousy Youtube version in 2016. And this was a piece of social coment on Chinese society and if you see it late it becomes worthless (almost).
That's down to the film mixer and their mixing skill, not the use of multiple channels. Almost every Atmos film released so far has been done very well, without gimmicky use of the overheads. In my opinion and experience, truly immersion into a film requires multiple speakers, as many as one can practically and economically afford. Nearly every Atmos mix or upmixed DSU mix I've heard when compared to the 5.1 mix adds an immersion to the sound that truly let's the speakers disappear, enveloping you in a bubble of naturally moving sound.

I've actually tried watching movies in stereo before with a 2.1 bedroom setup, and quite frankly it's awful. Not only do you lose the natural ambiance and movement of sound, but the massive comb filtering across the phantom center ruins the dialogue intelligibility and never quite sounds as distinct as a center speaker.



Sent from my LM-X210(G) using Tapatalk
 
A

AtomicRon

Audiophyte
Hate to say it but most of the world doesn't have a clue about the ability to have a better experience in home. They either lack the money or the knowledge to formulate a better experience in home. The last 5 times I've gone to the theater there has been at least 1 annoyance which would keep me from going back.. and that's.. kind of annoying.
 
S

shadyJ

Speaker of the House
Staff member
Yep, ours is like that.
Those are Omnimax theaters, not Imax theaters. They use the same film though, super65. You usually only see Omnimax screens in museums and touristy spots. The reason is they do not seat enough people to be profitable and so have to be subsidized by the community or something else. Omnimax screens can be cool under the right conditions, but you need a really dark room and good bulb to pull it off, and sometimes the bulb is not bright enough and sometimes there is too much ambient light which ruins the picture.
 
j_garcia

j_garcia

Audioholic Jedi
Those are Omnimax theaters, not Imax theaters. They use the same film though, super65. You usually only see Omnimax screens in museums and touristy spots. The reason is they do not seat enough people to be profitable and so have to be subsidized by the community or something else. Omnimax screens can be cool under the right conditions, but you need a really dark room and good bulb to pull it off, and sometimes the bulb is not bright enough and sometimes there is too much ambient light which ruins the picture.
I think that is what they originally called this theater, but it is now just The Hackworth Dome. Yes, it is part of a "museum" of sorts, The Tech Museum that has rotating exhibits about, you guessed it, technology and science. It receives funding from donations from all the big local tech companies and such.
 
Auditor55

Auditor55

Audioholic General
Hate to say it but most of the world doesn't have a clue about the ability to have a better experience in home. They either lack the money or the knowledge to formulate a better experience in home. The last 5 times I've gone to the theater there has been at least 1 annoyance which would keep me from going back.. and that's.. kind of annoying.
That is why you have Dolby Cinema and IMAX. We can't really duplicate those experiences in the home.
 

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