my profile | my password | search | faq & rules | forum home

» Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE   » Operations   » Film Handlers' Forum   » DTS and other problems....

Author Topic: DTS and other problems.... Ken McFall Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 615 From: Haringey, London. Registered: Apr 2001 posted 02-21-2003 05:13 PM                     Reading some of the posts recently regarding problems with DTS and other equipment I can't help thinking I've been very lucky in my experiences. One thing that does strike me is that some installations whilst good technically are not that great when it comes to the real world. Engineers seldome hang around for a full day to see how equipment is used and how it performs in the 'real world'. I know from experience from install work I've done that setting up and real world running are very different. I've been fortunate that I was able to monitor my work and adjust as required and as a result I have had NO problems with DTS at all. I was able to monitor a number of different prints and arrive at a balanced decision as to how the equipment performed. Many cinemas have finacial limits and cannot afford to have an engineer hanging around for days at a time, so when they do get called in the chances are the equipment performs perfectly. Its not uncommon for things to work perfectly when the engineers around and fall flat on its face when he walks out of the door. It's comforting to have Karen contributing to this forum and giving support and advice... I wonder if this availability attracts more questions and complaints than say Dolby does simply because they are not so easily available. As a system DTS is first rate, and once I'd sorted out the disk availabilty issue I loved to watch a film in that format. My systems worked perfectly because I was able to spend time on them. Could this be the issue with many of the comments so far? No disrespect to the projectionists who contribute but not all of them have installation experience and are expected to work with what the engineer has left them. Engineers, like all of us, are under pressure as well so is it any wonder that sometimes things are less than perfect.  |  IP: Logged Antonio Marcheselli Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1260 From: Florence, Italy Registered: Mar 2000 posted 02-22-2003 05:08 AM                        Ken I agree with you. DTS players are very simple devices. Usually you can solve problem with simple operations. The Timecode Reader is very simple, doesn't need complex calibration (like DD) and just need to be aligned to the projector and set for the correct operational Led's voltage. If readers are factory aligned and drives are in good condition usually you can solve all of your DTS problems by yourself just spending a bit of your time in front of the unit to see what happens. Bye Antonio  |  IP: Logged Leo Enticknap Film God Posts: 7474 From: Loma Linda, CA Registered: Jul 2000 posted 02-22-2003 05:53 AM                        quote: My systems worked perfectly because I was able to spend time on them. Could this be the issue with many of the comments so far? I think that's the issue with any complex piece of technology trying to do a specific job in a specific context, not just DTS. The trick is to combine the engineer's knowledge of the technology with the user's knowledge of what [s]he's trying to do with it and how, in order to achieve the desired result. Not always easy, though...  |  IP: Logged Antonio Marcheselli Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1260 From: Florence, Italy Registered: Mar 2000 posted 02-22-2003 10:12 AM                        Leo, Right, but what about the engineer dowsn't want to hear user's feedback and experiences? It happened to me many and many times... Bye Antonio  |  IP: Logged John Pytlak Film God Posts: 9987 From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922 Registered: Jan 2000 posted 02-22-2003 10:38 AM                        Those companies that actively participate on sites like Film-Tech DO want to hear customer comments, including end-users who may not actually purchase the product, and use the information to improve their products. Kodak calls this "the voice of the customer". Projectionists don't purchase much film, but they sure USE lots of it. So your opinions matter.  |  IP: Logged Daryl C. W. O'Shea Film God Posts: 3977 From: Midland Ontario Canada (where Panavision & IMAX lenses come from) Registered: Jun 2002 posted 02-22-2003 08:01 PM                        The only problems I've had with DTS units are CPU board failures. I don't think you could fault the technician that installed / maintained it.  |  IP: Logged Tim Turner Film Handler Posts: 87 From: Chula Vista, CA, USA Registered: Jan 2002 posted 02-22-2003 09:31 PM                     I think its a perfectly good idea for the engineer to make sure that the projectionist knows what exactly was fixed and how it was fixed. So that when the engineer leaves and the unit brakes down agian, the projectionist will know how to fix it! Every tech guy I've seen just fixes stuff and says "ok, I got that back up agian" and then starts heading for the door, without explaining what he did. And they don't seem like they liked to be asked questions either! Whenever I have problems with DTS units, I just replace the drives, and then everything works normal agian.  |  IP: Logged Ken McFall Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 615 From: Haringey, London. Registered: Apr 2001 posted 02-24-2003 10:55 AM                     Karen is very generous with her time and that goes a long way to explain the excellent service that we all seem to get from DTS. The point I had hoped to make is that reader alignment is a very time consuming business, especially if you are going to check it with a number of 'real world' prints. Its all very well going in with a reel of test film and setting up with that, what about the prints we get every week that seldom come anywhere near perfect results. I've seen a lot of SRD setups that have been quite simply rushed, that'll do and walk away!! When the same equipment, where time is taken on the alignment the results speak for themselves. As things become more and more 'computer' based the alignment stage of an install or service is increasingly important to prevent the 'reversions' and drop outs. The cost of servicing equipment is spiraling upwards and the equipment required to do the work is growing in a similar way. Whats it going to be like if, when, Digital Projection becomes the norm? We are not always going to have the luxury of dual inventory of prints so when the Digital goes down.... you close the doors until a suited technician, not an engineer, arrives... [ 02-26-2003, 08:28 AM: Message edited by: Ken McFall ]  |  IP: Logged

All times are Central (GMT -6:00)

Printer-friendly view of this topic

Hop To: Select a Forum: Category: Operations -------------------- Digital Cinema Forum Film Handlers' Forum Large Format Forum Ground Level Feature Info, Trailer Attachments & REAL Credit Offsets Category: Community -------------------- Film-Yak Film Handlers' Movie Reviews The Afterlife Bob Maar's Joke-A-Thon Category: Classified -------------------- Equipment and Supplies Wanted/For Sale Help Wanted/Seeking Employment Category: System -------------------- Software Beta Testing Forum

The Film-Tech Forums are designed for various members related to the cinema industry to express their opinions, viewpoints and testimonials on various products, services and events based upon speculation, personal knowledge and factual information through use, therefore all views represented here allow no liability upon the publishers of this web site and the owners of said views assume no liability for any ill will resulting from these postings. The posts made here are for educational as well as entertainment purposes and as such anyone viewing this portion of the website must accept these views as statements of the author of that opinion and agrees to release the authors from any and all liability.