D-Cinema Logo

It was billed as an evening of “D-Cinema and Beyond” featuring an unusual 5K projection system developed by several German companies. What we saw on Sunday night was indeed a stunner. After a short bus ride from NAB to the local IMAX theater, a drink or two to soften our resistance, and a standup-comedian to heighten our sense of anticipation, the IMAX screen filled with glorious detail. Five 1K Christie projectors were seamlessly linked together for one of the sharpest and highest-res projected images I’ve ever seen.

The most impressive sequence was a lengthy shot of a European soccer game. It was so lifelike it seemed as though we were actually sitting in the stadium — especially when someone in front of our virtual row stood up after an exciting play. Two 2K ARRI cameras captured the stitched-together video images, and ten microphones captured the audio, which was later processed into a 5.1 sound field.

As you can imagine, it isn’t practical to use five projectors that have to be carefully aligned. In other words, this 5K projection system won’t be showing up at your local theater anytime soon. On the other hand, it was a cool glimpse into the future of digital cinema.