Dolby Cinema

Premium cinema screen technology created by Dolby Laboratories
Dolby Cinema
Websitehttps://www.dolby.com/movies-tv/cinema Edit this on Wikidata

Dolby Cinema is a premium cinema created by Dolby Laboratories that combines Dolby proprietary technologies such as Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos, as well as other signature entrance and intrinsic design features. The technology competes with IMAX and other premium large formats such as Cinemark XD and Regal's RPX (Regal Premium Experience).[1][2][3]

History

The first installations featuring Dolby Cinema were JT (now Vue) Bioscopen Cinema in Eindhoven, Netherlands on 18 December 2014; followed by Cinesa La Maquinista in Barcelona, Spain.[4] Dolby Laboratories has partner contracts with Cinesa, Vue Cinemas, AMC Theatres (known as Dolby Cinema at AMC, formerly Dolby Cinema at AMC Prime until early 2017),[5] Cineplexx Cinemas, Wanda Cinemas, Jackie Chan Cinema, Reel Cinemas and Odeon Cinemas[6] to install Dolby Cinemas.[7]

On May 26, 2017, Dolby announced they made a deal with Les Cinémas Gaumont Pathé to open 10 new locations in Europe. Seven will be located in France and three will be located in The Netherlands.[8]

Technology

The entrance to a Dolby Cinema theatre located at the AMC Barton Creek Square 14 in Austin, Texas, showing a print of How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World

Dolby Vision

Dolby Cinema utilizes a Dolby Vision projection system developed by Dolby Laboratories in conjunction with Christie Digital. The system consists of dual Christie 4K 6P (primary) modular laser projectors featuring a custom design to allow for unique light path. The system is capable of delivering up to 14 foot-lambert (48 nits) on unity-gain matte-white screens for 3-D (and up to 31 foot-lambert (106 nits) for 2-D), a substantial improvement on current generation 3-D systems which deliver in the range of 3 to 4 foot-lambert for 3-D. The result is improved brightness, color and contrast compared to traditional xenon projectors.[9][10] The first theaters temporarily used off-the-shelf dual Christie 4K laser projectors until the Dolby Vision-capable ones were shipped out in spring 2015.[2]

Dolby 3D uses spectrum separation, where the two projectors function in stacked operation with each projector emitting a slightly different wavelength of red, green, and blue primary. There is no polarization present on the projector, and the 3-D spectacles have notch filters that block the primaries used by the projector projecting the image intended for the other eye.[11]

Dolby Vision is able to display the following combinations of resolution and frame-rate[citation needed]:

  • 2K – 2D at 120fps, 60fps, 48fps and 30fps
  • 2K – 3D at 120fps, 60fps, 48fps and 30fps per eye / projector
  • 4K – 2D at 120fps, 60fps, 48fps and 30fps
  • 4K – 3D at 120fps, 60fps, 48fps and 30fps per eye / projector

Although the twin projectors are capable of displaying the 7,500:1 contrast ratio defined by the DCI fixed luminance gamma function, for movies not graded with Dolby Vision, the projectors are limited to 5,000:1 contrast ratio.[12] The Hollywood studios have graded over 100 films directly on Dolby Cinema projectors, the creative team can then create content with contrast ratios of 1,000,000:1.[13]

Dolby Atmos

The interior of a typical Dolby Cinema theatre located at the Vue Hilversum in Hilversum, Netherlands

Another component of the Dolby Cinema experience is Dolby Atmos, an object-oriented, 3-D immersive surround-sound format developed by Dolby Laboratories.[14][15] The system is capable of 128 simultaneous audio inputs utilizing up to 64 individual speakers to enhance viewer immersion.[16] The first film to support the new format was Disney and Pixar's animated film Brave, released in 2012.[16]

Signature entrance

Most Dolby Cinemas feature a curved video wall entrance displaying content related to the feature film playing in the auditorium. The content displayed on the video wall is specifically generated by the film studio and is intended to immerse viewers in the movie experience before the movie has started.[17] The video is generated using multiple short throw high definition projectors in the entrance ceiling and proprietary software is used to pixel map the different images together along the wall. Similarly, the audio is generated using speakers placed in the ceiling of the entrance.[18]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Sensory Assault: Dolby Takes on IMAX With Mega Theater Rival". The Hollywood Reporter. 12 March 2014.
  2. ^ a b Mariella Moon. "Dolby is launching its super-vivid IMAX competitor in the Netherlands". Retrieved December 7, 2014.
  3. ^ Lally, Kevin (February 19, 2016). "Going Big: More and more circuits invest in Premium Large Format brands". Film Journal. Archived from the original on January 6, 2018. Retrieved January 6, 2018.
  4. ^ "Dolby launches advanced cinema experience". Film Journal International. 3 December 2014. Archived from the original on 17 December 2014. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
  5. ^ "Dolby Cinema at AMC". www.amctheatres.com. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
  6. ^ Archer, John (13 June 2018). "7 Dolby Cinema Sites To Open In The UK". Forbes.
  7. ^ "Dolby Cinema: The Total Cinema Experience". www.dolby.com. Retrieved 2016-06-04.
  8. ^ "Dolby Cinema Expands in Europe With Les Cinemas Gaumont Pathe Deal | Hollywood Reporter". www.hollywoodreporter.com. 26 May 2017.
  9. ^ "Dolby Launches Dolby Cinema". Digital Cinema Report. 3 December 2014. Retrieved 2016-06-04.
  10. ^ nurun. "Dolby Launches the Next-Generation Cinema Experience – Dolby Laboratories, Inc". investor.dolby.com. Archived from the original on 2015-09-15. Retrieved 2016-06-04.
  11. ^ "Dolby 3D". 2010-06-03. Retrieved 2016-08-23.
  12. ^ "The Force of Dolby Cinema". Celluloid Junkie. 29 February 2016. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
  13. ^ "Dolby Cinema: Twin laser projectors + object-based 3D audio = awesome". Ars Technica. 12 December 2015. Retrieved 12 December 2015.
  14. ^ Pino, Nick (August 28, 2017). "Dolby Atmos: The ins, outs and sounds of the object-based surround system". TechRadar. Retrieved December 27, 2017.
  15. ^ "Dolby Atmos Audio Technology". www.dolby.com. Retrieved 2016-06-04.
  16. ^ a b "Dolby's Atmos technology gives new meaning to surround sound, death from above". Engadget. Retrieved 2016-06-04.
  17. ^ "Dolby Cinema: The Total Cinema Experience". Dolby.com. 2015-07-17. Retrieved 2015-07-23.
  18. ^ Sarah Mock (2016-04-12), Dolby Cinema AMC Prime Video Wall, retrieved 2016-06-04

External links

  • Dolby Cinema Homepage
  • Dolby Cinema Locations
  • Theatrical Releases in Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dolby Cinema.