4k cinemas in LA or San Fransisco?

[Christian Berg]

I happen to be in San Fransisco and Los Angeles in the next few weeks. Just want to know if there are any 4k digital cinemas installed that run regular movies? Does anybody know? I saw there are DLP installations but I figure they are 2k.

Any 4k?

Thanks! /Christian

[David Mullen ASC]

The new Landmark at the Westside Pavilion in West L.A. has a 4K projector -- they are showing a digitally-restored version of "Dr. Strangelove" in 4K this week, though an old b&w movie probably isn't going to show-off the quality of 4K projection. On the other hand, it's one of the greatest movies ever made...

Most of the digital projectors in town are 2K DLP.

Trouble with 4K projection is the lack of 4K material to screen on it. Probably most material that will be shown on Landmark's 4K projector will be 2K D.I.'s bumped-up to 4K, though the "Dr. Strangelove" restoration was done at 4K.

[donatello b]

"the opening of the Landmark complex at Los Angeles' Westside Pavilion, which features three theaters equipped with Sony's SXRD 4K digital cinema projectors. Along with the 4K projector at LA's Nuart Theater, which is owned by Landmark, -- these are the only screens in Los Angeles that offer 4K projection for paying audiences, according to The Hollywood Reporter"

"For now, though, Landmark patrons will only be able to appreciate 4K resolution in the form of pre-show materials provided by Sony. If Wagner and Cuban are smart (which they certainly are), they will also hit up Warner Bros. for newly restored 4K versions of Blade Runner, Cool Hand Luke and Bonnie and Clyde to screen as part of their midnight movies selection."

[Tom Lowe]

oh yeah, AC had that big article about the Strangelove restoration. interesting that it's getting a 4K screening.

I would definitely have to drive up to LA if anything like Bladerunner was shown in 4k at Landmark!

[Steve Gibby]

I visited the Nuart for RED's 4k screening. Very nice...

It will be interesting to see the technology and intended use details of the RED 4k projectors that were announced at NAB.

With Landmark's recent announcement about their 4k plans, including purchase of RED One cameras by one of their affiliate companies, perhaps RED 4k projectors are in the longterm future for Landmark Theaters - and other theater chains.

I'm guessing that future developments in 4k projection will surprise all of us...

[Tom Lowe]

So how many pictures really exist at 4K right now? How difficult is it to take an existing movie, like say Saving Private Ryan or Batman Begins, and scan them at 4k? Is scanning all that's involved? I imagine if you're going to scan at 4K you would want to do some cleaning up as well.

How are these 4K files delivered to Landmark or other 4K theaters? Harddrives?

[David Mullen ASC]

You'd have to color-correct them as well, even if you were transferring / scanning a color-timed film element like the I.P., but definitely if you were scanning original negative, which has no corrections built-in. Probably a week minimum of work in a D.I. color-correction suite, if you went very fast.

Right now, we know that there are not too many 4K masters of movies -- "Spider-Man 2", "Stuart Little 2", "The Black Dahlia", there are some of the few all-4K D.I.'s that come to mind. The original digital restoration of "Snow White" over a decade ago was done at 4K by Cinesite.

Most anything shown on a 4K projector will probably be uprezzed from a 2K master.

When Sony was first showing off the 4K projector, they were showing "The DaVinci Code" with it in select theaters (I think it was the AMC15 at Century City here in L.A.), so I assume that D.I. was done at 4K -- but being a movie actually shot at night on fast stock with some diffusion for a look, they discovered just how grainy the image actually was.

Actually it would probably be easier to create a 4K master for a movie that didn't go through a D.I. process -- like "Batman Begins" or "Saving Private Ryan" -- the problem is all the recent movies that went through a 2K D.I., so there isn't even conformed negative that exists (unless they conformed it after the D.I. was done to match the digitally assembled negative scans.) These movies were basically assembled digitally with a lot of post work done to the 2K digital scans, so it would be difficult to redo the work at 4K.

[kmikami]

Any movie with VFX work has shots that never existed as anything higher than 2k, right?

[Tom Lowe]

Jeez, that sucks about all those effects movies basically being capped at 2K.

Hopefully people will get on the ball and realize that 4K is the archive standard for the future. Older movies and those without a lot of DI work shouldn't that hard to scan and CC at 4K, it sounds like.

[David Mullen ASC]

Older movies and those without a lot of DI work shouldn't that hard to scan and CC at 4K, it sounds like.

It aint cheap...

[Tom Lowe]

It aint cheap...

hehe. :biggrin:

well the studios have mountains of money in their vaults, i'm sure they could do a few a year....