Movie theatre setup?

[buz914]

What format do movie theaters have?
Do they all have Atmos speakers?

 

[everettT]

What format do movie theaters have?
Do they all have Atmos speakers?

It widely varies. Not one standard is out.

 

[Kingnoob]

What format do movie theaters have?
Do they all have Atmos speakers?

Very few have atmos the best theater near me Cinemark xd has auro 11.1 thx . It’s too loud though hurts my ears , right now I cannot afford to go movie theaters .


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[buz914]

Interesting. I figured they were all decked out.

Guess not!

 

[BMXTRIX]

While theaters range all over the place, it should not be a goal you are looking for really.

Instead, look at the room you are looking to setup and what you can accomplish to get there. I always struggle when people talk about 'home theater', and they are using a 50" TV that they are sitting 12 feet away from. What theater has a 50" TV in it? If they are just talking about surround sound, then that's only half the discussion really. For that matter, surround sound by itself may be just a small part of an overall goal.

Theaters pretty much do have one thing in common. They tend to be blacked out spaces. Not only do they have no windows, but they typically use black paint and a lot of dark treatments on all the surfaces within the theater space. They do typically follow THX guidelines and have the center seats about 1.5x the screen width away from the screen. While some use the 2.35 format as 'standard', many use a constant width setup, and that basically ends up being about 10" of diagonal screen size for each foot of viewing distance when using current home theater 16:9 screens. So, if you have a 50" TV, you should sit 5' from it to get the same immersion that a home theater delivers. This is why 80"+ screens are often a more appropriate size for main viewing locations.

Front projection, of course, being far more optimal for true recreation of the theater experience in your home, and you better believe that you can match, or exceed the quality that many theaters are able to deliver for just a couple thousand dollars (or so) of video/screen costs.

Then the audio discussion begins and the room size, dimensions, layout, etc. all come into play and will sit entirely against whatever budget you thought you had. You can do it on the cheap, but speakers are one of those costs that tend to sound better as you spend more and many people would be very excited for get some B&W 801D speakers into their home despite their ridiculous price point. But, around these parts we do try to come close to hitting budgets and recommend sale/used gear if there is something of value to be had.

What theaters tend to use really is often inappropriate for home use as well. The speakers are designed for larger spaces, not homes.

 

[Verdinut]

What theaters tend to use really is often inappropriate for home use as well. The speakers are designed for larger spaces, not homes.

As an exception, some of the amplifiers used in several theaters can be and are actually used in homes. For example, I am using four QSC Digital Cinema Series amplifiers in my HT system. This line of amplifiers is installed in most if not all Cineplex theaters across North America. They are not cheap but they are light, have excellent specs, operate in Class AB and you can't blow them:

DCA Series - Non-Network - Cinema - Products & Solutions - QSC

www.qsc.com

 

[buz914]

Great Info, Thanks!

I'm in no way trying to use a movie theatre as a home theatre guide.

I was just curious about the hardware layout of a movie joint, specifically if they typically employ Atmos channels.

From the responses it appears that they do not.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

https://www.dolby.com/us/en/technologies/dolby-atmos/dolby-atmos-specifications.pdf

https://www.dolby.com/us/en/technologies/dolby-atmos/dolby-atmos-next-generation-audio-for-cinema-white-paper.pdf

https://www.dolby.com/us/en/technologies/dolby-atmos/dolby-atmos-home-theater-installation-guidelines.pdf

Here’s some nice reading. Everything from history to commercial cinema. I think these mostly focus on HT but there is commercial info too. Good stuff.

 

[buz914]

That's good stuff. Thank you.

I've seen the home theater guidelines, but not the cinema stuff.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

 

[JerryLove]

As an exception, some of the amplifiers used in several theaters can be and are actually used in homes. For example, I am using four QSC Digital Cinema Series amplifiers in my HT system. This line of amplifiers is installed in most if not all Cineplex theaters across North America. They are not cheap but they are light, have excellent specs, operate in Class AB and you can't blow them:

DCA Series - Non-Network - Cinema - Products & Solutions - QSC

www.qsc.com

Their big amps are Class H, not AB... same as my old Yammy pros.

I'd think that Class D or derivative would be the way to go for that level of power.

And as much as I would love to put theater-level gear in my home theater (looking at you http://jtrspeakers.com/orbit-shifter-pro.html), I know that it's pointless overkill.

 

[Verdinut]

Their big amps are Class H, not AB... same as my old Yammy pros.

I'd think that Class D or derivative would be the way to go for that level of power.

And as much as I would love to put theater-level gear in my home theater (looking at you http://jtrspeakers.com/orbit-shifter-pro.html),I know that it's pointless overkill.

I did not elaborate but I was thinking of the DCA 1222, the DCA 1622 , the DCA 1624 and the DCA 1824 which operate in Class AB, and are more compatible with the usual amp power used in home systems than the more powerful DCA 2422, 3022 and 3422 which operate in double step Class H most appropriate to theaters and other bigger venues.

 

[Kingnoob]

While theaters range all over the place, it should not be a goal you are looking for really.

Instead, look at the room you are looking to setup and what you can accomplish to get there. I always struggle when people talk about 'home theater', and they are using a 50" TV that they are sitting 12 feet away from. What theater has a 50" TV in it? If they are just talking about surround sound, then that's only half the discussion really. For that matter, surround sound by itself may be just a small part of an overall goal.

Theaters pretty much do have one thing in common. They tend to be blacked out spaces. Not only do they have no windows, but they typically use black paint and a lot of dark treatments on all the surfaces within the theater space. They do typically follow THX guidelines and have the center seats about 1.5x the screen width away from the screen. While some use the 2.35 format as 'standard', many use a constant width setup, and that basically ends up being about 10" of diagonal screen size for each foot of viewing distance when using current home theater 16:9 screens. So, if you have a 50" TV, you should sit 5' from it to get the same immersion that a home theater delivers. This is why 80"+ screens are often a more appropriate size for main viewing locations.

Front projection, of course, being far more optimal for true recreation of the theater experience in your home, and you better believe that you can match, or exceed the quality that many theaters are able to deliver for just a couple thousand dollars (or so) of video/screen costs.

Then the audio discussion begins and the room size, dimensions, layout, etc. all come into play and will sit entirely against whatever budget you thought you had. You can do it on the cheap, but speakers are one of those costs that tend to sound better as you spend more and many people would be very excited for get some B&W 801D speakers into their home despite their ridiculous price point. But, around these parts we do try to come close to hitting budgets and recommend sale/used gear if there is something of value to be had.

What theaters tend to use really is often inappropriate for home use as well. The speakers are designed for larger spaces, not homes.

Yeah theaters need high spl speakers to fill the room with sound , do they use professional audio speakers or what ?
My Cinemark has ear bleeding loud speakers and poor sound quality in all except xd.


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[BMXTRIX]

Yeah theaters need high spl speakers to fill the room with sound , do they use professional audio speakers or what ?
My Cinemark has ear bleeding loud speakers and poor sound quality in all except xd.

A shocking number of theaters use JBL for their speakers. You can browse the extensive list of JBL cinema speakers right here:

Cinema Market Products | JBL Professional

Check out JBL Professional Cinema Market products like High Powered Screen Array, Screen Array 3-Way, Screen Array 2-Way, 5000 Series, 3000 Series, & more for the best sound around.

www.jblpro.com