Do you enjoy watching digital movies on the big screen?

I have not noticed a huge difference. But I haven’t been to a 35mm or 70mm big-screen show for many years, either. I hope you reminding me doesn’t make it stand out now.

What I really hate are the default settings on TVs that give the “soap opera effect”, where it look like videotape instead of film.

It depends somewhat on the quality of the projector and the darkness of the theater, but I do really like the quality of actual film projectors.

I really dislike it when the digital-ness of newer displays are noticeable, such as when the shades of darkness don’t have enough possible values, and when you can see compression artifacts, or other glitches.

@Call_Me_Jay Luckily we can adjust the settings ourselves to make it look like film. Took me a while to do it perfectly with my Sony Bravia HDTV screen but I got it.

I prefer the warmer color saturation of film, but since that is taken into account when making movies with digital cameras, and the story si crafter to not be dependent on those aspects of production, I really don’t feel deprived with new movies.

I missed seeing Dunkirk in a theater, and watched it at home last week on a 48 inch flat screen. It was impressive, but I think I would have been much more impressed seeing it in a theater on a large screen.

I have only seen one movie in a theater that was projected digitally. And that was “Her” in 2013. And it was horrible.

First problem was the masking was incorrectly set. The masking was set to scope when the film was flat. So you didn’t really get a crisp edge. Masking is the curtains that go in and out on the sides of the screen when switching between 2.35 to 1.85. Fun fact.. We used garage door openers to control the masking.

The second problem the bulb. It was improperly aligned and focused. To a degree that anyone that actually had a clue would have found unacceptable. I cancelled shows over lesser bulb problems. The cathode had slipped loose and the anode was creeping up on the yolk. This is incredibly dangerous for the projectionist and the projector. I had to repair this happening once. Down for 48 hours and 20K in parts.

One of my best friends baby mama is currently a projectionist in a 16 screen theater. And I use the term projectionist loosely. She was a real projectionist back in the day. But now the job is pretty much making sure the concession stand has quarters.

I fucked around a lot when I was a projectionist with real film. But I also walked through the theaters a few times during each showing to make sure the picture is good and the sound is right and it wasn’t to cold. I actually took pride in providing a great experience.. Now there are people that don’t really know that much and don’t really care. For some perspective. Before I was allowed to touch anything I had to read thousands of pages of manuals. And after that was done it took three months of training before I was allowed to run a shift on my own. Now the training is about 8 hours.

I think it is possible to get a good digital projection. But I don’t think theaters want to invest in that.

It’s been over 20 years since I’ve stepped foot in a movie theater. I prefer to either rent a DVD or stream my entertainment to my TV at home where the popcorn & Coke doesn’t set me back $20.00 & I can pause the movie when Mother Nature calls. I have “old eyes” so digital doesn’t excite me no matter the size of the screen!!!