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Author Topic: Help! My onscreen image looks too good! Joe Redifer You need a beating today Posts: 12859 From: Denver, Colorado Registered: May 99 posted 08-20-2009 08:28 PM                        Apparently I am not showing movies correctly. Very recently the owners of my theater chain came in and and did a once-over of the place as they tend to do every couple of months or so. As they were walking through the booth the owner commented on how bright my images were. The District Manager that was accompanying him also made several comments on how he thought my screens were too "hot" and the such (and yes, he was talking about brightness, not temperature). We are the only Regency outside of the state of California, so I suppose they were just used to how things tend to look at all of their theaters out there (it has gotta be pretty bad for my screens to look way too bright in comparison). Most decent theaters in the Denver area are as bright or brighter than my screens (except for maybe the dollar theaters or places that feature staff who cannot focus a xenon bulb properly). I can barely get maybe 14 footlamberts out of my smallest/brightest in scope. I am surprised that they didn't complain that my prints were too clean or didn't have enough scratches. Has anyone else encountered "complaints" similar to this from the top brass?  |  IP: Logged Demetris Thoupis Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1240 From: Aradippou, Larnaca, Cyprus Registered: Apr 2001 posted 08-21-2009 12:17 AM                     Once an owner touched a lamphouse and got frightened that it was too hot!  |  IP: Logged Monte L Fullmer Film God Posts: 8367 From: Nampa, Idaho, USA Registered: Nov 2004 posted 08-21-2009 12:23 AM                     You should be proud of what you've done where you work at, for it definitely shows that DM is used to darker screens... I ran into that once with EDW's: Engineer's Office would call me up and wonder and worry on how we are doing since I have never called in for any sort of tech problems. I just simply tell them that "I got it under control." Guess, there are more booth clowns in California than anywhere else and the "big cheese" have aclimated themselves to this form of operation.. It's sorta fun to be a "threat" to either a company or circuit: You know what you're doing. -Monte  |  IP: Logged Andy Bajew Expert Film Handler Posts: 136 From: Bellaire, Texas Registered: Jun 2009 posted 08-21-2009 12:27 AM                     quote: Once an owner touched a lamphouse and got frightened that it was too hot! I baked brownies on top of one of our theaters that doesn't have the top exhaust fan. Management saw it wise to place the unit somewhere else to help cool down something in the lobby rather than their projector bulb... I didn't really bake brownies, but I probably could. I have been severely burned from the lamphouse at the end of a really long movie. And Joe- I had corporate complain the booth was too clean. They might have been mad about the lounge we made though and the cable box we rewired to the opposite end of the booth to have cable in this lounge.  |  IP: Logged Phil Hill I love my cootie bug Posts: 7595 From: Hollywood, CA USA Registered: Mar 2000 posted 08-21-2009 12:31 AM                  I once had the "expert" owner of a 1570 venue I installed tell me the sound was 1 dB too loud. (Like ANYONE could hear a 1 dB difference...HA!) So, I went to the booth and touched NOTHING and then asked him if now it was better...he said now it was PERFECT! What an asshole! ...Him, not me! Doncha just LUV the self-appointed "experts"?  |  IP: Logged Jack Ondracek Film God Posts: 2348 From: Port Orchard, WA, USA Registered: Oct 2002 posted 08-21-2009 01:54 AM                        quote: Joe Redifer Has anyone else encountered "complaints" similar to this from the top brass? No. I frequently compliment myself on my work. Said compliments do wonders for my ego, encouraging me to strive for continued excellence, knowing I'm worthy of my approval!  |  IP: Logged Joe Redifer You need a beating today Posts: 12859 From: Denver, Colorado Registered: May 99 posted 08-21-2009 01:59 AM                        quote: Andy Bajew And Joe- I had corporate complain the booth was too clean. Ha ha! My booth is clean, but they were able to find a bit of dust in the hinges of the lamphouse door (which was purchased in very used condition from a local dealer). They were so disappointed that they weren't clean since I worked a whopping 4 shifts a week. I think I have higher priorities than lamphouse door hinge dust, like keeping everything else running! But they just do that just so they can hold something over you, I think... to feel powerful maybe, I dunno. As far as experts go, I always have people who want me to turn the sound up or down a "notch or two". Ummm... OK. 6.5 to 6.4. Exactly one notch!  |  IP: Logged Louis Bornwasser Film God Posts: 4441 From: prospect ky usa Registered: Mar 2005 posted 08-21-2009 05:52 AM                        Babes: it's all about power, control, and ego. I think they actually resent competence. Louis  |  IP: Logged Rick Raskin Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1100 From: Manassas Virginia Registered: Jan 2003 posted 08-21-2009 08:05 AM                     quote: Phil Hill Doncha just LUV the self-appointed "experts"? They're everywhere. Just ask them to take charge and then watch them do a disappearing act.  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 08-21-2009 09:33 AM                     quote: Like ANYONE could hear a 1 dB difference...HA! Yo Phil, There is a guy outside a Boston that claims to be able to hear a 1db difference... and you'd better NOT argue with him either! Joe, One of my old bosses used to brag about having screens lit at 20+ foot lamberts, running 70mm at 24 foot lamberts. Not only does that bright an image give me a headache but it's just plain wrong! It's one of the things on my looooong list of reasons why I left there. Mark  |  IP: Logged Lyle Romer Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1400 From: Davie, FL, USA Registered: May 2002 posted 08-21-2009 09:40 AM                     There's an easy way to test if somebody can hear 1 dB. Mark the fader then find a fader setting that measures 1 dB lower. Put the subject in the audiorium and tell them to let you know when you've lowered it 1 dB. Didn't Dolby design the faders so that each number was approximately 3 dB because they found that was the smallest delta that humans could perceive?  |  IP: Logged Bill Enos Film God Posts: 2081 From: Richmond, Virginia, USA Registered: Apr 2000 posted 08-21-2009 11:08 AM                     I have a friend who claims to be able to hear beyond 30KC and refuses to use hearing protection in extremely loud situations because he can, at will, tighten his ear drums and thus avoid hearing damage. Joe, dim and fuzz the image by placing a piece of window screen across the port, double or triple to achieve the necessary result.  |  IP: Logged Jake Spell Master Film Handler Posts: 294 From: Johns Island SC Registered: May 2009 posted 08-21-2009 11:12 AM                     yeh, tell him I said good luck with that. Once your hearing's gone, its not coming back  |  IP: Logged Scott Norwood Film God Posts: 8146 From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas) Registered: Jun 99 posted 08-21-2009 11:38 AM                        I thought that 1dB was, by definition, the smallest perceptible difference in loudness. Presumably, this applies to humans with excellent hearing. As for image brightness, there is a certain threshold for me, above which the image "pops" and below which it looks flat and lifeless. This is around 14fL. Anything less just looks ugly. There is a huge difference for me between 12fL and 16fL. I don't think that I've ever seen an image brighter than 18fL, so I can't comment on overly bright images.  |  IP: Logged Monte L Fullmer Film God Posts: 8367 From: Nampa, Idaho, USA Registered: Nov 2004 posted 08-21-2009 12:49 PM                     quote: Louis Bornwasser Babes: it's all about power, control, and ego. I think they actually resent competence... ..and they can be horrible as managers when they let power go to their heads and fail to be in self control about the position.  |  IP: Logged

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