The potential to bring high dynamic range imagery to the masses in cinemas — offering a palette with brighter whites and deeper blacks — has been getting a lot of attention thanks to Belgian projector maker Barcoand the launch of its HDR by Barco projectors. Overall, the pace seems to be quickening with the participation of a growing number of manufacturers and stakeholders.
In June, there will be an opportunity for select paying audiences toexperience this techwith “Inside Out 2,” Pixar’s anticipated sequel to its 2016 Oscar winner.
The animation studio is rendering a version of the movie that will take advantage of HDR’s wider color gamut, and it will play in a limited number of cinemas around the world that offer direct-view displays (meaning cinema auditoriums with LED displays rather than traditional theatrical projection systems) that have met the HDR technical spec created by studio consortium Digital Cinema Initiatives.
It’s still a very limited number of screens. There are roughly 15 manufacturers with such displays available — about 100 installed worldwide at this point. In the U.S., Samsung’s Onyx was the first to come to market. It’s currently installed in a handful of theaters domestically, including sites in Houston and Los Angeles.
“We’re very excited in general about the future of cinema, as it relates to opportunities for storytelling,” Pixar’s senior scientist Dominic Glynn said, adding that Pixar is exploring the potential of all types of cinema systems, including those that could offer HDR or 4K. “It does lead to new opportunities to tell stories and bring immersion to audiences.”
Earlier, Pixar had rendered HDR versions of 2022’s “Lightyear” and 2023’s “Elemental” for direct-view screens that meet its criteria, though the number of screens was even fewer at those points. Earlier this year, the studio gave a theatrical release to “Soul,” “Turning Red” and “Luca” — its pandemic-era movies that went straight to streaming — which also included an HDR version for the select direct-view screens.
Barco intends to start a pilot program for its HDR by Barco laser projectors in the fall, including installations at select AMC Theatres, B&B Theatres and Regal Cinemas in the U.S. That’s expected to run through the end of the year, with rollout of these projectors to permanent sites expected in 2025.
More privately, Toronto-headquartered cinema tech developer Christie has been offering invite-only R&D technology demonstrations of an in-development HDR projection system.
VIP+ was invited to a demo that featured a currently available Christie laser projector equipped with some developing software. According to a rep, an appropriate Christie laser projector(s) for the size of a given venue coupled with the software could enable the tech to reach 300 nits — the measure of brightness DCI has set as the benchmark for HDR cinema.
Both Barco and Christie use their laser projectors for these HDR models. Standard dynamic range laser projectors are their current top of the line cinema systems, which have been steadily replacing older xenon lamp technology. Neither company announced pricing for its HDR tech.
As the two leading cinema projector makers, Barco and Christie brands make up a large majority of the estimated 200,000 cinema auditoriums worldwide.
Depending on size and capabilities, pricing for LED display options could start around $300,000 — “significantly more expensive” than today’s standard dynamic rangelaser projectors of a comparable size, said Pete Lude, CTO of consulting firm Mission Rock Digital, in a recent interview with VIP+.
The LED option could also involve retrofitting a theater to make accommodations for the weight, size, power and AC requirements. It also means rethinking the sound configuration,whichmany see as an obstacle facing this type of tech.
But there’s still much work to be done, including on messaging and particularly with HDR. “I think we [as an] industry haven’t been good about defining what that means and what an audience should expect,” Glynn says.
How quickly could this happen?This could be a topic when the international exhibition community gathers at CineEurope, set for June 17-20 in Barcelona.
A March 2023 Cinema Foundation survey (based on polling of exhibitors representing nearly 20,000 screens in North America) found 53% of respondents planned to upgrade at least some of the projectors in their auditoriums, and 39% planned to add more PLF screens within three years.
Of course, the current cinema climate could impact that forecast. The summer box office is off to a slow start as “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” opened to $58.9 million worldwide last weekend — the worst holiday weekend performance in nearly three decades (with the exception of the pandemic).
Still, some widely anticipated titles are on the way this summer, including “Inside Out 2,” “Despicable Me 4” and “Deadpool & Wolverine.”
