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NEC upgrades DLP projectors for higher res 3D in time for the premiere of Up

by Richard Lawler posted May 30th 2009 at 10:03AM


If you roll out this weekend to check out Disney Pixar's latest addition to the 3D film movement Up, you might be seeing it broadcast by one of NEC's new NC2500S-A projectors or an older model that has been upgraded, sending out 3D in 2K res courtesy of Texas Instruments' DLP chips. The kids might not notice a 33% improvement in resolution and brightness over previous generations that let it put the show on bigger screens than ever before, but we're sure you will. Word is Clearview's Ziegfeld Theatre is one of the first with the upgrade, so if you're close by, we all know how important choosing a theater carefully can be these days.

If you saw Star Trek or The Dark Knight on IMAX Digital, did you get your money's worth?

by Richard Lawler posted May 16th 2009 at 4:53PM


Since most of you are apparently waiting to see Star Trek at home anyway, this might not affect you but recently there's been a ruckus over what constitutes "real" IMAX. Judging from the map above, the company has been very successful spreading its IMAX Digital gospel to movie theaters across the country, but when patrons drop an extra $5 or so and don't see the gigantic field of vision-filling screen they're used to, is that really the IMAX experience? Whether you agree with IMAX CEO Richard Gelfond that the quality of digital projection, improved sound and slightly shifted viewing angle is enough to create the "wow factor" or Aziz Ansari's accusation of Liemax for the converted theaters, it's not right that it usually isn't clearly indicated which kind of setup your local theater has until you're actually inside. Check out the Google Map link to know what your local moviehouse is like, and let us know which kind of screen you've seen recent blockbusters like The Dark Knight and Star Trek on.

[Thanks, Ryan]

Read - AZIZ VS. IMAX ROUND 2: IMAX CEO Responds! And so do I. I challenge you to a televised debate sir!
Read - IMAX Digital vs. 70mm IMAX Google Map

Barco ships mammoth DP-1200 DLP 2k projector

by Darren Murph posted Oct 21st 2008 at 1:41AM


Let's get one thing straight: Barco's DP-1200 isn't meant for any of those "amateur" home cinemas. But then again, you could probably piece that together on your own after digesting the 205-pound weight specification. This digital cinema beamer packs a 0.98-inch DLP Cinema chip, 2,000:1 contrast ratio, twin DVI / SMPTE 292M inputs and a drool-worthy 2,048 x 1,080 native resolution. Unfortunately, Barco's not releasing a retail price to the public, but those who aren't afraid of gigantic numbers can certainly phone up a dealer to get the ball rolling.

[Via AboutProjectors]

Meridian's $185,000 810 Reference Video System unveiled

by Darren Murph posted Jul 30th 2008 at 7:44PM


Anyone even remotely familiar with Meridian will understand that it caters to the affluent sect. Anyone even considering disputing that fact need look no further than the recently unveiled 810 Reference Video System. This monstrous projector boasts ten full megapixels of resolution, a native 4,096 x 2,400 resolution, 3-chip D-ILA module, PKI Xenon light, 10,000:1 contrast ratio, 4,000 lumens and a video processing box created by Marvell. Slated to ship in Q3, the PJ comes packaged with a long, short or medium-throw lens as well as a "motorized 2.35:1 anamorphic lens assembly for fixed height ultra-wide screen installations." Each unit also comes bundled with the 810 Reference Video Scaler "which connects to the projector with four parallel DVI-D cables, each carrying one quadrant of the image." Early reports suggest that even with all the fancy hardware, the $185,000 asking price may still be a bit high, so make sure you give this one a serious look before committing.

[Via BigPictureBigSound]

Christie intros 95-pound CP2000-M DLP Cinema projector

by Darren Murph posted Mar 14th 2008 at 9:38PM


It's not often that you need to phone a friend over in order to help you physically lift a projector for installation, but if you happen to place an order for Christie's newly announced CP2000-M, um, you may want to have some brawn nearby. At 95 frickin' pounds, this thing is hailed as "the most compact DLP Digital Cinema projector in the world," and true though that may be, you can tell it wasn't designed for the "average" home theater (or home theaters at all, really). As for specs, you can look forward to 12,000 ANSI lumens, a motorized lensing system and a selection of eight zoom lenses, 2K resolution, a 2,000:1 contrast ratio, and twin HDCP-compliant DVI ports. We have absolutely no idea how many vacation homes you'd have to liquidate in order to call one of these your own, but for the vast majority of us, we doubt it'll matter.

Electrosonic showcases MS9600 2K Digital Cinema Player

by Darren Murph posted Mar 9th 2008 at 8:40AM

If you've been wishing that those double digit theater prices would actually net your local hot spot an upgrade, here's an idea you can certainly nudge their way. Showing off at ShoWest 2008 in Las Vegas, the Electrosonic MS9600 is hailed as a "high-performance JPEG2000 appliance," which plays back unencrypted JPEG2000 content at 2K, 1080p and 720p resolutions. Designed specifically for digital cinema, post production and show control applications, this unit also touts dual HD-SDI / dual DVI-I video outputs and 16-channels of broadcast quality digital audio. Furthermore, it even supports 48fps 3D playback, but unfortunately, we've no idea how soon it's destined to hit cinemas of any kind.

Sharp's 4k x 2k 64-inch ultra high res monitor

by Ryan Block posted Jan 15th 2007 at 1:46PM


For those of us that have a hard enough time telling the difference between 720 and 1080, let us tell you that once you've seen Sharp's 62-inch 4k x 2k, there's no going back. You know how when you get up close to a 1080 picture you can still start to see the pixels? Well, gazing into this 4096 x 2048 (8.3 megapixels) picture is an experience more reminiscent of sitting by a window, and not by a display. It's kind of hard to capture that level of detail with photos (hell, our camera isn't even 8.3 megapixels), but we sure tried. Check out our high res gallery.




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