I saw the documentary and met Dave Strohmaier at this event. His goal was to tell the true story of the phenomenon that wove its way into almost every aspect of 50s and 60s culture and beyond. Due to the expense of equipment able to screen authentic Cinerama (including the screen), there probably won’t be a rush to build or rebuild such theaters. While it is certainly possible to produce an effectual Cinerama display using digital equipment, the outcome may not be as impressive as witnessing the original as designed. One reason is, although progress continues, digital projectors are still rather limited in brightness, contrast, and resolution compared to a clean print through a high quality film projector. Sound is another problem: Much is lost when converting the original discrete 7-channel 30-ips magnetic tracks to 5.1, 7.1, or Dolby stereo. Any modern computer with a video card having 3 or more outputs and a sound card outputting 7 or more discrete hi-res PCM channels will, theoretically, give you the same effect, hooked to monitors or projectors. Now you need that special curved, multi-slat screen! Maybe, some day, computer systems like this will become affordable and popular (social stratification) and maybe someone will remaster and transfer all the original films to digital for this purpose, and you can have Cinerama in your bedroom or living room. Give Bill Gates a call…
I saw the documentary and met Dave Strohmaier at this event. His goal was to tell the true story of the phenomenon that wove its way into almost every aspect of 50s and 60s culture and beyond. Due to the expense of equipment able to screen authentic Cinerama (including the screen), there probably won’t be a rush to build or rebuild such theaters. While it is certainly possible to produce an effectual Cinerama display using digital equipment, the outcome may not be as impressive as witnessing the original as designed. One reason is, although progress continues, digital projectors are still rather limited in brightness, contrast, and resolution compared to a clean print through a high quality film projector. Sound is another problem: Much is lost when converting the original discrete 7-channel 30-ips magnetic tracks to 5.1, 7.1, or Dolby stereo. Any modern computer with a video card having 3 or more outputs and a sound card outputting 7 or more discrete hi-res PCM channels will, theoretically, give you the same effect, hooked to monitors or projectors. Now you need that special curved, multi-slat screen! Maybe, some day, computer systems like this will become affordable and popular (social stratification) and maybe someone will remaster and transfer all the original films to digital for this purpose, and you can have Cinerama in your bedroom or living room. Give Bill Gates a call…