Remember a couple of years ago when news of The Hobbit in Higher Frame Rate was in the air and we all wondered what it would be like? Well, just when that’s become old hat, out comes a new bit of kit to excite us and, yes, it’s going to be launched with The Hobbit:The Battle of the Five Armies.
The kit I’m talking about is the next-generation laser projection system that will be installed in a couple of IMAX cinemas and used with the release of The Hobbit: BOTFA on 17 December. The system gives a brighter picture and greater resolution than current digital projectors. It is, of course, quite fitting that it should be used first to showcase a Peter Jackson film as Peter is always at the forefront of new film technology.
Rich Gelfond, chief executive officer for IMAX, told Bloomberg, “The images with laser projection are spectacular. They are brighter, and will eventually be as good as film — maybe better in some respects.”
While this news is for the US and I do appreciate that it is only for one or two IMAX’s, I have some hope that similar news may be announced elsewhere. In a recent interview with Pocket-Lint, IMAX CEO Greg Foster said: “We expect to launch our first next-generation laser projection system at the end of 2014 with further roll out taking place in 2015. We have already signed more than 60 laser deals spanning North America, Europe, China, Australia and the Middle East. Two UK sites that have already signed on include the Empire Leicester Square and the Glasgow Science Centre.”
For those of us who aren’t technically minded but still like to know how things work, here’s a description of laser projectors from BBCNews.
