People of all ages enjoy going to the movies. The atmosphere, energy, lights, and everything about the movie-going experience is infectious. Watching movies on the big screen in movie theaters is a truly unmatched experience. However, have you ever found yourself looking around the auditorium, wondering how it all works?
Before the lights turn off or during the previews, many wandering minds are left with questions that are often forgotten once the lights come back on. But we may have some for those who are still searching for answers. For example, cinema enthusiasts likely want to know what kind of projectors do movie theaters use.
Of course, movie theater projectors are different from those you may have encountered in an office or on an impromptu movie night with your friends. Movie theaters use special projectors to project fantastical visuals on the big screen. They are much bigger than those used by people daily by about a few hundred kilos and are commercial-grade for achieving the best movie experience.
What Kind of Projectors Do Movie Theaters Use?
Back in the olden days of cinema, movie projectors worked very differently than those used today. Back then, in the beginning stages of the theater experience, the projectors would have two reels spinning to create the images that would flicker due to the movement of the reels and project onto the screen.
However, today we have come a long way since only being able to project images onto a screen. Furthermore, with the age of digitization, almost every movie theater uses a digital projector, bar for those theaters that still use old-timey projectors for nostalgia’s sake. With the upgrade to digital projectors in theaters, the audience can enjoy movies with clean and crisp visuals.
Still, every theater uses a different brand of projectors with its own set of features. With the switch to digital projectors, everything is more powerful, from the visuals of the movie to the quality of the sound.
Digital Light Processing projectors
Digital Light Processing, or DLP for short, is one of the technologies incorporated by the theaters. These projectors have Digital Cinema Projector (DCP) hardware built into them, and they are explicitly made for movie theater experiences. When the movie is made, the studios sell it to movie theaters on licensed hard drives that limit the viewing time for the movie.
The Digital Cinema Projector hardware is the one regulating the limitations of viewing the movie. It ensures the restrictions are followed and that the movie is not played beyond the agreed-upon period between the movie studio and the theater.
So the movies purchased on DCP hard drives are encrypted and are able to be played only during the licensed period. The hard drives also protect against piracy by taking the necessary measures to stop such illegal viewing of the movie.
How does Digital Light Processing projectors work?
As we have already mentioned, these projectors work by using the technology known as digital light processing. The DLP is made up of millions of silicon chips, each specifying a pixel. Combined, all of the pixels make the projection of a detailed and high-quality image.
In DLP, large lamps with high brightness levels are used. The light from the lamps is split into different colors and projections on the right mirrors. There is a forward mirror in the projectors that connects all the split light, thus forming a single beam. The beam is projected on the screen, and the image is displayed on it.
Silicon X-Tal Reflective Display
Silicon Crystal Reflective Display (SXRD) is the other technology used by movie theaters operating with digital projectors besides DLP. Sony makes this projector technology, and with it, the light beam is also divided into multiple different colors. The beam falls on a reflective surface containing silicon crystals, which results in 4K resolution pixels.
How does Sony Silicon Crystal Reflective Display work?
This silicon crystal reflective display technology may be different from the DCP one. However, the working process is the same for both. Only the light falls on a reflective surface consisting of silicon crystals.
The primary difference between the two technologies is that right and left images are shown in a sequence with DLP. But in SXRD, one chip is halved into two equal parts for each eye. The SXRD technology only works for projectors with 4K resolution.
Brightness and resolution
Because cinema auditoriums tend to be big enough to hold large audiences, the projectors need to have high brightness so that even those sitting in the back rows can enjoy the movies. Today, most theaters use projectors with 25,000 lumens.
However, if a movie projector has high brightness but low resolution, it will result in a blurry image, and the movie will be unwatchable. So, in order for the audience to enjoy the movie, theaters mainly use projectors with 4K resolution.
Screen size and contrast
For digital projectors to display the movie’s visuals perfectly, the movie theaters will need to have a big screen built-in. With a big screen, everyone in the audience will be able to appreciate the movie thoroughly, no matter if they are seated in the last row of the auditorium. The screens in these theaters are usually about a hundred feet tall.
The cinemas using these projectors have a contrast of up to 6000:1. Contrast is the difference between black and white, and the higher it is, the better and more vibrant the projected images will be.
Read more: How To Set Up A Home Theater Projector
Conclusion
There you have it. Hopefully, we have satiated your curiosity about what kind of projectors do movie theaters use. Now when you visit the movie theater, you can focus completely on the movie being played on the screen instead of letting your mind wander with different questions.
Furthermore, we are sure you will be able to appreciate the effort that movie theaters put into bringing high-quality images to the big screen even more. After all, using the latest technology in movie theater projectors does come with a hefty price tag.