As soon as I walked into the theater and glanced up at the trailers on the screen, I knew that I wasn’t watching film. I immediately suspected that I was looking at the output from a digital projector.
Digital projection was first introduced in many cities a few years earlies, but not in Indianapolis. I wondered how digital would compare to film and if it really was an enhancement or just a method of lowering distribution costs. Make no mistake, the image is superior to film.
What I immediately noticed was the vivid colors on the screen. Images were more saturated without being over-saturated. I thought that film may have a noticeable resolution advantage over digital, but I was surprised to find digital to look sharper than film. The contrast ratio was better and the black levels were at least as black as film, it not just a bit darker. The other advantages are that there is no noticeable flicker (due to elimination of 24 frames/second film) and there are no “cigarette burns” in the upper right-hand corners before switching to a new reel.
I’m not sure the exact projector, but the Christie splash just before the film suggests it may be a Christie CP2000 , which is a 3-chip DLP 2048 x 1080 pixel projector. What ever it is, it make me want to upgrade the Sony LCD projector I have at home!
Theater 1 also had greatly improved sound fidelity. I noticed that during the trailers and I really noticed it during the movie (Mission: Impossible 3). I suspect the sound system was completely upgraded rather than simply recalibrating or improving the source. I saw King Kong in Theater 16 and the sound was absolutely terrible there, with dialog that was often difficult to make out, especially in quiet scenes. Theater 1 is a great improvement.
Theater 1 is not perfect, however. The large screen has about 11 visible vertical lines spaced evenly across the screen. These lines are where the individual smaller panels join together to make one large screen. They were very noticeable from 2/3 of the way back in the seating and continually distracting. The screen also appeared to be causing splotches in the projected image, because the screen was not uniform. (Dirty? Not smooth? Screen color variation? I'm not sure why. . .)
Overall, I’d highly recommend this theater, especially if the screen were upgraded. Digital is the future, for both home viewing as well as movie theaters.
Kerasotes ShowPlace 16
4325 S. Meridian Street
Indianapolis, IN 46217-3441
I received the following e-mail from the very nice manager at ShowPlace 16:
Thank you for the email! I love the digital projector as much as you do! And let me tell you – it is much easier for us too! You just press a button, and away it goes – you can skip chapters, rewind, fast forward, pause….just like a DVD player. And the picture is awesome! You can never scratch a print or get dust marks like you can on film, and it never gets that bouncy look like film can. Also, the sound will never diminish in quality like it does with film prints that have played for awhile. This is because on film, there are sprocket holes on the side of the film and this is how the film is pulled through the projector. The Dolby Digital soundtrack is actually located in between these sprocket holes, so the more the movie is played through a projector, the more those holes get wear and tear on them – hence, your sound quality is not going to be the best that it can be. But, if you ever are dissatisfied with the sound in any of our theaters, please alert a manager and we can make sure everything is working as it should. Sometimes, the processor does not kick into Dolby Digital on its own, and all we need to do is push a button. Or, we can always turn the volume up for you.
I also agree with you about the screen. The reason that you see the vertical lines on the screen is because it is actually a silver screen, and it also came in sections that had to be put together. The darker screen shows those lines more that a normal white screen would. The silver screen is necessary for 3-D movies, so that is the reason that we have it. Also – I think the other issue you were talking about might be the screen puckering at the top. It wasn't installed correctly the first time, and we are still waiting on the company to come out and fix that – but it will be fixed in the future. Please call our direct line in the future to be sure what is playing on our digital projector, or it is also listed in our Indy Star ad. 784-0989.
Thanks again!
Helene
Complex Manager
Showplace 16 – INDY 8381
317-784-0989
I overall enjoy Kerasotes theaters. I love the seating, both that it is stadium seating and that the arms flip up. I wish there was one as close to me as the Galaxies at 96th Street, but I do have a Kerasotes across the street from work now.
I was looking for a digital theater near Muncie to see the new up coming
Indiana Jones movie being released on Mat 22. (George Lucas is shurley doing this in digital since he is one of the pioneers in this field). I got your info on a web search and allready called and asked questions about your theater. I was curious though ,if the problems that the previous critic talked about have been addressed.. Looking forward to seeing the new Lucas film in your digital theater. Greg Wilkins Muncie In.