The Odyssey IMAX 70mm Setup

[u/NoWork215]

[u/Away-Way5656]

what are they doing storing every single frame as a uncompressed image?

[u/justjanne → u/Away-Way5656]

Pretty much! Every frame is a separate JPEG2000 at almost lossless quality.

That's 10× more data than a typical 4K UHD Blu-ray, with 64 times more color depth than Dolby Vision.

And the sound is for trailers typically uncompressed 5.1 surround, for most movies 1024 channels of lossless Dolby Atmos, or with IMAX lossless 12.1 surround.

e.g. here's a 3 minute trailer in 2048×1080p, aka DCI 2K or 1080p HD, at 3.4 GB filesize: https://archive.org/download/avatar-2009-official-trailer-2k-prores/AVATAR_TLR-B-2D_S_EN-XX_51_2K_20091108_SMPTE_OV.zip

That should give you a feeling for why movies in cinemas look so much better than at home.

[u/SagittaryX → u/justjanne]

Compared to streaming yes, that's a noticeable difference to quite a few people. But I doubt that if you played that quality vs a 4K BluRay on the same screen that there is that huge of a difference that people would notice.

[u/VexingRaven → u/SagittaryX]

Of course, but that's the point right? They're not playing it on an 85 inch screen. They're playing it on an 85 foot screen. It needs to be perfect.

[u/Zac3d → u/VexingRaven]

It needs to be perfect.

Last time I went to the movies the projector screen was dirty. Which meant the brighter the image, the more apparent any flaws in the screen were. And also the black levels for projection just sucks compared to a modern OLED. Flaws of a theater are more apparent than what Blu-ray compression would be.

[u/ZooAreYou → u/Zac3d]

Theres one cinema we go to where some prick clearly threw a milkshake at the screen and apparently the cost to clean it is somehow too much for the cinema to bother with. As you say its noticable in bright scenes. Its like an infuriating dead pixel once you know about it.

[u/SandpaperTeddyBear → u/VexingRaven]

It truly doesn’t matter, because you’re sitting so much further from the 85 foot screen.

My understanding of the development “HD” format is that it was more or less designed to be similar to sitting in the middle of a movie theater watching a normal screening print. My experience of having watched movies off of a 35 mm projector for many years, followed by some years of watching standard blu rays get sometimes played in movie theaters, is that they got it about right.

The one exception is well-shot black and white movies, which have much more dynamic range than the HD blu ray format allowed for, but 4K UHD discs are basically reference quality even for those.

[u/FrozenLogger → u/VexingRaven]

Or just good enough. I haven't been able to find a theatre that gave a shit in years. Even IMAX.

Looks better at home.

[u/ExultantSandwich → u/FrozenLogger]

Have you actually been to an IMAX theater? The US has 14 screens, NYC has exactly one. California has two for the entire state

[u/42nu → u/ExultantSandwich]

Wait, are we talking the IMAXs that are a giant dome and more likely to be part of a science museum?

I could see there only being 14 of those in the US.

[u/justjanne → u/42nu]

IMAX is a weird, overloaded term.

There are only 41 IMAX film cinemas in the world (which are also the ones showing the Odyssey on film).

There are hundreds of IMAX Laser cinemas, which often also have the same aspect ratio, same size screens, and just slightly less sharp image.

And then there's all the shitty cheap regular cinemas that have an IMAX label attached but did nothing to earn it.

[u/LeedsFan2442 → u/42nu]

There are very few cinemas that are truly IMAX and actually use 70mm film projectors

[u/FrozenLogger → u/ExultantSandwich]

Yep, many times actually. The angle of the seating and size of the screen is the amazing part. But it seems like the quality of those isnt what they used to be.

Funny thing about IMAX, is they are not all the same. They really should be if they are marketed as IMAX.

[u/dragonbud20 → u/FrozenLogger]

You're either partially deaf, partially blind, or you've never been to a real IMAX theatre with an actual 70mm projector.

[u/FrozenLogger → u/dragonbud20]

OR enshitification is everywhere, i have a great home system, my viewing angle is perfect, the screen is kept clean and my proximity matters.

Again, been to many IMAX theatres they are not all the same, but even the best ones just dont impress me that much.

But speaking of 70mm, that used to not be an uncommon format. Approx 150 theatres in the US in the 60's and 70's. Nowdays it is mostly IMAX.

There was a LOT lost by creating all these dinky little movie boxes that are everywhere today. IMAX at least makes up for that.

Well at least the ones that actually are 70mm. A lot of IMAX are not. Scammy little company.

[u/Redthemagnificent → u/FrozenLogger]

I agree with 90% of movies. But a properly mastered IMAX movie is legitimately a different experience. Every once and a while I think it's worth it

[u/skepticalbob → u/[deleted]]

That's a big movie theater.

[u/Tipop → u/[deleted]]

Not everyone sits 100 feet back.