CinemaCon 2024

[Dennis Benjamin]

Figured I'd start this thread.

Who is going this year?

[Sam Chavez]

I am booked to go having not missed a show since 1980. Going for a quick turnaround, in Tuesday, out Thursday.

[Steve Guttag]

I should be there from Monday afternoon until Friday morning (early).

Honestly, the trade show for tech people looks pretty bleak this year (more than last year). The food floor looks as full as normal, of course. Some POS vendors are up on the tech floor.

[Mike Blakesley]

We will be there. It was a last minute decision to go, we literally booked last week.

Our regional NATO association's executive director, Diane Eve, is a former employee of ours, and she's kicking ass in the job, so it's always good to see her. It looks like the "independent" side of the industry is gaining a bit of traction too, since the chains seem to be dropping the ball in a multitude of ways, so we thought it would be even more important this year to be there.

[Darin Steffl]

I'll be going again this year.

[Leo Enticknap]

Honestly, the trade show for tech people looks pretty bleak this year (more than last year).

Well hopefully we'll liven it up a little bit for you. MiT will be there - booth 2116A. Caddy will be downstairs in the "adult trick or treat" hall.

[Leo Enticknap]

I see what Steve means about the techie hall. I arrived this morning for the booth build. A lot of familiar names are missing, and most of those who are there (with the notable exceptions of Dolby and Strong) have noticeably smaller booths (as is ours, but that is mainly because Caddy is in a separate booth this year). It's not as sparse as it was for the August covid Cinemacon a couple of years back, but it is more so than last year. There seem to be several Chinese vendors I haven't heard of with laser retrofit for Series 2 offerings setting up shop this year.

Anyways, please come and see us if you are going. Cool stuff we have to demo includes the LEA Professional amplifier line, a major new software upgrade (including significant new features) for the Trinnov OV2, and MiT's new IMC-25 automation controller.

[Marcel Birgelen]

I guess it's not just specific to this market either. Trade shows. especially of the technical kind, have been going down the drain over the last years. I've visited Cinemacon a few times in the past. I never really considered it to be a top-tier trade show, but I guess it's still a great way for the industry in this niche and the exhibitors to connect with each other.

Stuff like E3, once the biggest game show in the world, have entirely vanished. I remembered CeBIT back 20 years or so in Hannover Germany... A trade show as big as a city... Completely gone nowadays.
It's not like the underlying industries have shrunk over the years in both cases, but something in the mentality of both the potential exhibitors and visitors has changed.

I for one, still like trade shows, not are they a good way to connect with people, they are a great way to demonstrate and experience technology in physical form and get an overview of the ongoing developments in a particular industry.

[Steve Guttag]

I think, back in the film days...

• Everyone with an idea could make something that served the industry...so you had a bunch of small manufacturers (e.g. SPECO, AVAST (remember "Polly" and "Ester?")...etc. Those are mostly gone now.
• The industry got the living crap kicked out of it during Covid. Seriously, we were legislated out of business...not a allowed to open...deemed a higher risk than riding on airplanes...all without proof.
• That was heightened with the accelerated shortening of release windows.
• Hollywood is not making movies that people want to see, by and large, they have a combative release policy in both their terms and their short release windows.
• Exhibitors are not looking for new ways to spend money. If they are not buying things, why do they need to see them at the show? Now, they'll always need new food and POS type efficiencies so those will carry on. The seats also always get the nod...patrons love their recliners. But the projection and sound...that is much harder to qualify for what you spend versus what you get back.
• We're down to 3 projector companies, world-wide (with some rebranding variants). There are just 2-3 server companies, world-wide plus the projector company's own servers, if you want to commit to the house brand. And, none of this stuff will sell one more ticket than the other until you get into the extremes.
• I've never seen fewer sound offerings. For processors, Dolby has one, Trinnov, QSC (who isn't showing this year as they continue to retreat from cinema), Datasat...gone are USL and SMART or EPRAD's audio offerings...there are fewer choices and Datasat's stuff is getting pretty long in the tooth...not that people don't like it but it isn't changing a whole bunch. Harman/JBL, while still around...also not showing...so the two big American speaker companies aren't showing...Dolby is (and relatively new in the speaker/amplifier department...mostly know for processors). And hey...they have a big booth to hold it all!.

It's an industry in pain and no real light at the end of the tunnel. Everyone knows that 2024 is going to suck, movie wise. Exhibitors can't show what isn't there and if no money is coming in, it is hard to justify spending what you don't have on the people that are not coming.

We need good/better movies, more of them and with FAR better terms/windows.

[Bob Ezra]

good summary

[Agnius Acus]

Has anyone attended HDR by Barco showcase?

HDR by Barco is the company’s premium projection offering, delivering moviegoers an HDR cinema presentation that is unlike anything else. Based on the company’s patented lightsteering technology, Barco’s HDR works by strategically redistributing light on screen for images over 6x brighter than traditional cinemas.

Press release

[Steve Guttag]

Yes, I saw Barco's Light Steering projector (again). They started showing it in 2019...then Covid...then it started appearing in smaller situations (e.g. ICTA in January of this year in the US and in some shows elsewhere last year). Clearly, it has been stepped up into high-gear.

I'd say that HDR is as close to a "buzz" as I've heard at CinemaCon this year. Dolby is now going to have an avenue for their Vision projection system, for PLF theatres (there has to be enough revenue to justify the high cost of the projector). Barco has the light steering projector and rumor has it that Christie is working on something too. I've heard nothing from Sharp/NEC, who seem to be going in the opposite direction...the projectors that they actually brought (on the smaller side of things) are with pathetic contrast ratios of ~1600:1.

Barco is trying to go for all of the marbles. That is, try, in one jump, go for the proposed SMPTE/DCI standard for HDR to be 300 nits (87.5fL in freedom units). For reference, Dolby Vision, which is the only real HDR system out there in real numbers (hundreds of cinemas) is only a little more than double the standard of 48nits. (14fL). I believe they are at 106 or 108 nits. Please note, these HDR systems don't just increase the brightness level, they also lower the black level so the entire range is opened up. Barco already had high contrast projectors that worked just on the low end of the range...so you increased from 2000:1 to 5000:1. They are very expensive (you take a 40,000lm projector and that associated price and net only 27,000lm once all of the HC stuff is added). What I've noticed is that the average person does not see lowering the black level to that point sees it as significant, despite the 2-3X improvement. I have found that there is a big perception between 2000:1 and 3000:1...likewise, as you go below 2000:1, the lack of black level REALLY looks like grey (bad).

So, not only is Barco going for 300nits on the bright, they are also going for the very low blacks. The range increases in both directions but, to my eyes, more dramatically in the whites...let's face it, that is where there is more range to find. The lower end is often limited by ambient lighting, exit signs, room décor. The 48 nit standard really followed from the 16fL standard for 35mm film (measured open-gate/no film) and trying to have an equivalent luminance between film and DCP. Film's upper limit was set based on light that could be obtained and, more so, by the flicker observed using a typical double-flash system. As brightness is increased, the flicker becomes more pronounced. If you haven't seen a film projected recently, go see one and you'll be amazed at how annoying the flicker of a shutter becomes once you are accustomed to not seeing it anymore.

Well, now there is no need to match film presentation to digital so why not go up?

The problem I see with going for 300nits is that it requires so much light that it effectively reduces the screen size. And, if you think "just put in a higher gain screen." Well, then what's the point...you've just ruined the evenness of the picture and screwed with the contrast ratio as things off access will appear dark, things in front of you will appear bright...etc. I believe that, the projector that Barco was showing, if showing on a matte-white screen (1.0 gain with nearly 180-degree of scatter) has an approximate limit of 10m (about 33 feet) in width. Theatres with that sized screen won't be able to afford the cost of this projector (that they are not disclosing, at this time...but we do know what standard projectors cost, so one can presume that it will cost more than those).

If, on the other hand, we, at least at first, go for something along the lines of Dolby Vision's light levels (a little more than double), that would open the market up into PLF sized screens and with a look that is proven in the industry. Studios are already mastering for Dolby Vision. Like with HFR, where is the demand for 300Nits over 108Nits? I think doubling the light is a better first step to achieving something that, at present would severely limit accessibility due to the high cost of deployment combined with limited screen size (or very compromised image).

Barco's LS projector is impressive. It could definitely be a game changer as it can look significantly better than what we're used to. That will also be up to the content creators...which, for now, need to work on the story department more so than the technical wizardry (you know...butts in the seats). However, this sort of thing can help make the big screen experience that much better.

[Jason Sharp]

Steve, when you say there is a big perception difference between 2,000:1 and 3,000:1 is that while viewing normal studio produced DCP content? Is there a contrast standard that colorists try to grade to when mastering a DCP?

[Steve Guttag]

Yes, this is when using normal, currently released studio content. The perception difference is many fold. A nominal DCP projector has about 2000:1 (and we are talking sequential contrast...measure at full white, then measure at full black)...when you go up to 3000:1, the black level of the machine is what is really improved by the 50% in contrast. But, as much, so does the corner-to-corner sharpness and even color convergence. Almost without exception, the difference between a 2000:1 and a 3000:1 projector is the lens. It is the case for Christie and Barco. Christie and NEC do/did make a "cats eye" shaped iris plate(s) for some of their xenon projectors. These would help with contrast within the projector but without some of the added benefits of slower lens.

Post Production projectors have, traditionally, been in the 5000:1 to 6000:1 range. Those projectors, normally, have improvements in both the projector's light path as well as the higher contrast lenses. Remember too, often the limiting factor on contrast ratio in a theatre is ambient light as well as other forms of light contamination that limit how dark the image can get. Those factors don't exist when they grade a movie. It is the equivalent of a dubbing studio...they don't have the ambient noise level or the reverberation of a typical cinema.

If there is a standard for post production contrast ratio, I don't know what it is but there may be an SMPTE document that has it. I'm not really sure if there is a minimum standard for cinemas either. I know that 2000:1 was the nominal target but there are numerous examples of projectors that don't make that. Xenon based 4K projectors, for example...they were, typically in the 1800:1 range. The S2K based lamp based projectors were in the 1600-1800:1 range (anything with a .69" DMD and lamp based light...they're miserable and very visibly so). NEC's .69" based laser projectors remain very poor in the contrast department...they are in the 1600-1650:1 contrast range. Barco and Christie's laser based projectors are all 2000:1 and above on the .69" chips. Barco now has high-contrast lenses for the .69" ("S") projectors to get them into the 3000:1 range.

Again, I've found that getting that high-contrast lens is quite a bit of bang for the buck as it improves the overall image quality without too much of a light penalty (you are going to lose 10-30% of your light as it is a slower lens. Barco seem to be more affected than Christie.

[Leo Enticknap]

I've heard nothing from Sharp/NEC, who seem to be going in the opposite direction...the projectors that they actually brought (on the smaller side of things) are with pathetic contrast ratios of ~1600:1.

My impression is that they seem to be going all out on bringing down the price of new laser-illuminated projectors, in comparison to Barco and Christie's emphasis on driving up the contrast ratio of a 4K picture for a likely market of PLF houses. They had the NC603L and its higher light output cousin (can't remember the model number) on display, both of them 2K laser phosphor machines that are being offered at a very competitive price point. As the reliability of Series 2 lamp projectors and the availability of parts declines, I suspect that they will find a significant market among theaters that have to either replace their projectors or close, but have a restrictive limit to the money that they can raise.

Annoyingly, I wasn't able to make it to any of the demonstrations of Harkness's laser speckle-busting "Hugo" screen surface, though one person I spoke with who did was very impressed.