The Mike
In the Pixels
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- Feb 3, 2006
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Taken from a piece of an article:
This all came about from a comedian's rant online about the "fake IMAX" experience when he went to see Star Trek. What do you guys (and gals) think about this? I've never seen a fake IMAX screen....
Apparently, IMAX rolled out a digital projection system last year that can be easily installed in a normal movieplex and doesn't require those huge film reels of a traditional IMAX projector. The downside is that the screens of these "Fake IMAX" theaters -- as Aziz calls them -- can be as much as a quarter of the size of standard IMAX screen. The size discrepancy between them is shown here:
But the real problem is that the IMAX Corporation along with its partners, theater chains AMC and Regal Cinemas, are refusing to distinguish between the two formats. Moviegoers will not know what kind of IMAX experience they will have until their tickets have been ripped. The theaters however, are charging the same price for "fake" digital IMAX as they do for "real" film-based IMAX.
IMAX co-CEO Richard Gelfond argued that such a distinction is unnecessary because, "People don't say 'The 3 isn't a real BMW because it's smaller.'" As the LF Examiner -- a journal devoted to "large format" film -- points out, this is an illogical analogy: car buyers would be plenty upset if they paid around $120,000 for 7-series Beemer and instead received 3-series worth only $30k.
Gelfond also voiced concerns that older film-based theaters might be seen as "second-class citizens" when compared with their newer, cooler digital siblings. That seems unlikely, however. Though resolution for the digital IMAX is good -- slightly better than normal digital projection -- it still is a far cry from the resolution found in a film-based IMAX theater.
Confusing matters, filmmakers are now shooting sequences in their movies using IMAX's proprietary large-format cameras, designed specifically for a "real" IMAX experience. The first production to do this was "The Dark Knight," filling the entire frame with crystal-sharp clarity. This summer's "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" also has giant action scenes shot on IMAX film.
This all came about from a comedian's rant online about the "fake IMAX" experience when he went to see Star Trek. What do you guys (and gals) think about this? I've never seen a fake IMAX screen....
