Dolby and Disney sitting in a tree, kay eye ess ess eye en gee (1 Viewer)

[Sam Posten]

Dolby Cinema‏Verified account @DolbyCinema
.@Dolby and @Disney are proud to announce a theatrical partnership spanning 20 titles slated for Dolby Cinema. Full list:

https://www.dolby.com/us/en/cinema/theatrical-releases.html?sf187304155=1

=)

 

[Robert Crawford]

Dolby Cinema‏Verified account @DolbyCinema
.@Dolby and @Disney are proud to announce a theatrical partnership spanning 20 titles slated for Dolby Cinema. Full list:

https://www.dolby.com/us/en/cinema/theatrical-releases.html?sf187304155=1

=)

There are no Dolby Cinema theaters near me so I've never seen Dolby Cinema. Hopefully, that changes in the near future.

 

[Sam Posten]

Come visit Baltimore! Inner Harbor for Black Tip Shark Reef then up to White Marsh for Dolby cinema and IMAX across the hall from one another. I've got a guest bedroom and the city is 25 minutes away!

 

[Robert Crawford]

There are no Dolby Cinema theaters near me so I've never seen Dolby Cinema. Hopefully, that changes in the near future.

Not a lot of locations yet and only one in Michigan.

https://www.dolby.com/us/en/dolby-cinema/locations.html

 

[Robert Crawford]

Come visit Baltimore! Inner Harbor for Black Tip Shark Reef then up to White Marsh for Dolby cinema and IMAX across the hall from one another. I've got a guest bedroom and the city is 25 minutes away!

Thanks for the invite, maybe one day.

 

[Sam Posten]

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/dolb...ended-theatrical-123000963.html?.tsrc=applewf

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Sounds like the announcements made every year or every other year when Disney re-ups their contract with IMAX. Disney films have been playing in Dolby Cinema since a Dolby Cinema opened by me (2015) so this strikes me as more of a maintenance announcement than a grand new plan.

It's a shame that Dolby Cinema only supports 3D when dragged kicking and screaming into showing a film that way - with their dual 6P laser projection setup, they are ideal screens for 3D content.

 

[Sam Posten]

Sounds like the announcements made every year or every other year when Disney re-ups their contract with IMAX. Disney films have been playing in Dolby Cinema since a Dolby Cinema opened by me (2015) so this strikes me as more of a maintenance announcement than a grand new plan.

It's a shame that Dolby Cinema only supports 3D when dragged kicking and screaming into showing a film that way - with their dual 6P laser projection setup, they are ideal screens for 3D content.

Wrong thread?>

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Wrong thread?>

Not sure how? I was responding to your post about Dolby and Disney signing a deal, and pointing out that this is more of an extension of an original arrangement rather than a new arrangement. (Similar to the way that IMAX will also announce a re-upping of their own deal with Disney every year or so.) But that it's a shame that the Disney films aren't likely to screen in 3D in Dolby Cinema, even though Disney films are often in 3D and Dolby Cinema is technically capable of displaying some of the very best 3D presentations today.

 

[George_W_K]

Not a lot of locations yet and only one in Michigan.

https://www.dolby.com/us/en/dolby-cinema/locations.html

Oh, there's one 2 hours away from me. And near where my sister lives.

 

[Bryan^H]

Oh, there's one 2 hours away from me. And near where my sister lives.

Two and a half hour drive for me. Sucks living in west Michigan when all the action happens on the east side of the state.

 

[Edwin-S]

Man, I feel for you guys having to drive 2 hours to get to a Dolby cinema or IMAX screen. However, you need to try the 6.5 hour drive to sit in a theatre with stadium seating and more or less comfortable chairs in order to really get the feeling of living in the boonies.

 

[John Dirk]

Two and a half hour drive for me. Sucks living in west Michigan when all the action happens on the east side of the state.

Other than the snow I loved growing up in West Michigan. Of course, those were simpler times. I keep my visits short these days.

 

[Todd Erwin]

Closest one to me is over 4 hours away in Las Vegas.

I've experienced Dolby Cinema only once, at AMC Mesa for Star Wars: The Last Jedi when I was visiting family in AZ over the Christmas holidays. It was quite impressive, so much so that I've noticed how bad the contrast ratio is in many of the theatres in Fallon and Reno.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

My problem with Dolby Cinema, and it's such a stupid thing to get wrong, is the design that AMC favors. The Dolby Cinema near me is located at the AMC Empire 25 in New York City. They completely redesigned the auditorium, put in brand new reclining seats, expensive new projectors, all of that stuff -- but they also installed a ton of red lighting throughout the room to match with the AMC Prime/Dolby Cinema branding. I have no problem whatsoever with these being on before the movie begins, but the problem is, they remain on throughout the entire feature, so that the screen gets this red glow cast on it that just obliterates contrast.

Dolby Cinema uses two state-of-the-art 4K/6P laser projectors. The cost of each projector is said to be hundreds of thousands of dollars. And yet, they allow the entire experience to be crippled by five dollars worth of cheap strip lighting that they refuse to turn off during the film.

I just don't understand the logic there. And it breaks my heart because I know how good that setup should look, if only they'd turn the stupid lights off.

 

[Wayne_j]

I would have to drive about 3 hours into NYC to go to a Dolby Cinema so I haven't been.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Wayne - until they fix the red lighting issue at the AMC Empire 25 (and they've shown little interest in doing so), I would avoid that three hour drive.

It's also not a giant screen. It's a very nice sized screen, but you've got the Lincoln Square IMAX a few minutes away which has North America's largest screen. And they're also running dual 6P laser projectors, so the image quality is at least equal to Dolby Cinema. So I just rarely choose Dolby Cinema with the much larger IMAX nearby.

But I bet the Dolby Cinema screen at Empire 25 would look amazing if they'd just turn the red lights off during the movie.

 

[Sam Posten]

I HATE the exit lights!!!!!

 

[Josh Steinberg]

The exit lights at the AMC Empire 25 are bad, but they're not the only red light in the building.

Exit lights are tricky because they are legally mandated in pretty much any theater-type venue. But the trick is to install them in such a way that they cast a light over the actual exit, and not on the screen itself. The ones at the AMC Empire 25 could definitely use some shielding to allow them to shine forward and down, but not to the side where they reflect on the screen.

The AMC Empire 25 also uses red strip lighting on the floors, including on the aisles, stairways, and areas directly in front of and to the sides of the screen, resulting in a red cast not only on the screen but in the room itself. There are even red lights installed on the speakers. When I saw a movie in Dolby Cinema they kept those on during the movie too; the next time I went, they turned those off during the trailers, so hopefully that was a mistake to keep them on and not a regular policy.

The AMC Empire 25 has also installed power recliners in the auditorium that have very bright control panels on the armrests. Anytime someone adjusts a seat, they shoot a beam of white light up to the ceiling that can be visible throughout the auditorium. It gives the appearance of a person using the flashlight on their phone.

There's just so much light pollution, for lack of a better term, in that Dolby Cinema auditorium. I know this is a really novel concept, but the only light that should be on the screen is the light from the projector.

And they don't really have customer service. One of the reasons I prefer IMAX these days is that if anything goes wrong during the show, I can reach out to IMAX via the email they provide at the end of every screening, and I can talk to someone knowledgeable about the IMAX system and the auditorium, and they'll fix the problem. They usually compensate me for the issue as well by providing free passes for a return visit, but the more important part is, if I talk to someone and mention a technical issue, they understand what I'm speaking of. With Dolby Cinema, the only people to speak to are the people at the theater, who often do not seem to understand the issue and are unable to assist. They may be able to give a refund or free pass, but the issue is never addressed so the problem remains.

Maybe "tragedy" is too strong a word, but it's a damn shame. The Dolby Cinema auditorium at the AMC Empire 25 has some beautiful, state-of-the-art projection technology, technology which cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to purchase and install, and they're ruining it with a bunch of cheap 99 cent lights that they won't shut off.

 

[John Dirk]

I just don't understand the logic there. And it breaks my heart because I know how good that setup should look, if only they'd turn the stupid lights off.

Sure you do. The local theater staff is only concerned with the masses who are completely oblivious. Dolby should start mandating a certain viewing environment in these theaters if they're going to spend that kind of money upgrading them.