Theoretically could DVD be used in a cinema??

[Robby]

I mean if you stripped away the basics and could connect a DVD Player to the projector; would it work?

Would the resolution be high enough?

Just curious.

[Ono]

It can be I would guess because there are some real ****es cinemas out there. (Woking is one where some TVs are bigger than the screen I went to!).

Dunno how the audience would react to the projectionist chaning the disc 3/4 way through Pearl Harbor though.:p

[Robby]

Originally posted by Ono
It can be I would guess because there are some real ****es cinemas out there. (Woking is one where some TVs are bigger than the screen I went to!).

Well this was kind of my thinking, what with the way some DVDs get released before we see them over here (Rock Star, Training Day, K-PAX etc) could a smallish cinema (with a big screen ;)) get away with showing DVDs? as oppossed to having to buy the prints from studios.

I'm talking technically here not legally as i would imagine there is a huge amount of red tape and laws to abide.

[RichB]

Well considering the version of Dark Star shown recently in the John Carpenter all nighter at the Curzon cinema, London was the R2 DVD I'd say yes :D

[Narshty]

John Carpenter allnighter? Damn.

Which Curzon and what was screened?

[RichB]

The Curzon Cinema in Soho on Sat 2nd feb, midnight - 8am

They Live
The Thing
Escape From New York
Dark Star

Introduced by the tasty Nina from Sci-Fi Channel :D

[Narshty]

Awww...

That could've been my birthday treat! :(

I do love allnighters - let's hope they do another one soon. :)

[Joe Pasquale]

Not sure, I think it'd look a bit like watching a crap VCD on a large TV set...

I think with HDTV sets in the States becoming nearly as popular as Widescreen ones here, I think the 'next' format which has 1000+ lines of resolution would be a better bet. I'm sure it'll come to the point in the next 20 years where films are sent via high-speed computer networks to all the cinemas.

[SqueakyG]

I'm guessing the next generation of DVD technology would have a high enough resolution that it could be projected very sharply onto a very large screen. Current DVDs might look too low-definition, unless they are Superbit, or something.

You know what though? I don't go to the cinema very often, but every time I go, I am disappointed with the picture quality. I have become used to very vibrant sharp DVD pictures. Films on a cinema screen look very bleached and blurry in comparison, not to mention all the dirt. Seeing a film at the cinema is like watching a very bad dirty blurry print of a film... something that would score very badly if it was the DVD transfer.

[silverpenguin7]

Although you say that, I have noticed the last few films I have watched at the cinema have had amazingly clear prints with next to no dirt etc.

[Robby]

When i saw Oceans 11 the picture was very murky. The blacks were a slight red which was very off putting.

If it's possible why don't Cinemas show DVDs, the cinema i saw O11 was an independent and very small. Could have probably benefitted a DVD source ( if it was available :rolleyes: )

[Nick dVl]

I think it would look quite lousy if blown up. 500-600 lines is nowhere near the resolution of a decent 35mm print. A 1000 lines might be okay for a smallish screen.

Mind you, some cinemas don't bother to focus their projectors properly. Anyone know what the resolution was of those digital projectors they used for the premier of Toy Story 2?

[gZa]

1280 x 1024

Incomparison;

DVD is...

720 x 480 (NTSC)
720 X 576 (PAL)

VCD is...

352 x 240 (NTSC)
352 x 288 (PAL)

[ali]

In one word: NO

DVD can never equal the resolution of a 35mm print, nor is it in the interests of the studios to ever release a format that can rival the experience and quality of seeing a film in the cinema.

[Just Call Me Wanda]

I've seen a fair few DVD's blown up on large screens at the cinema on my uni film course. To be honest they look worse than VHS! Whenever they stick the DVD in and not a 35mm print I've got to the stage where I just walk out.

[Michael Brooke]

There is absolutely no way a DVD will rival a good-quality 35mm print or come anywhere close, but there's equally no question that had I shown, say, the Criterion <I>Seventh Seal</I> instead of the appallingly scratched and mangled 16mm prints that were the only commercially available copies when I worked in repertory cinema exhibition, I doubt I'd have had too many complaints!

So yes, under certain circumstances (i.e. there not being a good-quality 35mm alternative), DVD can be very acceptable for big-screen showings.

[BlueDwarf]

Ok then forget DVD replacing 35mm, could anything else?
Or would it be viable for a newer better technology to replace it?

[Robby]

Having never seen a proper digital cinema projection i am keen to see what the fuss is about. So we've established DVD really isn't upto the job. Would the internet or satallite play a part here?, beaming movies directly to cinema's. I gues that could mean an end to staggered releases. (Hopefully)

It can only be a matter of time before 35mm is obsolete. Having said that the only time i really notice the flaws of 35mm prints are at the very beginning of films. Adverts, trailers and what have you. Maybe it's just me but when i'm in the cinema i just become engaged in the movie and picture and sound quality generally go over my head. When i'm watching a DVD at home that's a different matter and i'm very picky. Strange that.:confused: .

[Michael Brooke]

35mm's major drawbacks are colossal expense (a <U>single</U> 35mm print costs four figures!) and extreme fragility - but there's little question that a brand new 35mm print from good quality source materials blows away any current digital projection system.

There's a lustre to a 35mm picture (especially a black-and-white 35mm picture) that you just can't get with a digital medium, however fine the resolution - I suspect this is due to the way the projector beam catches the silver particles on the film.

So while I have little doubt that digital systems will replace film at some point down the line, I suspect the changeover will be slower than many have predicted. Digital is unmatched for the likes of <I>Toy Story 2</I>, but for more conventional live-action material I remain unconvinced that it's a superior system in terms of visual quality.

[Mr Pin]

Check out Oceans 11 at the Warner West End before it ends it's run. It is showing as a digital presentation (DLP) and blows away its print rival.