Last Rites Films Posted February 1, 2012 Report Share Posted February 1, 2012 AMC is now charging a premium to see films in ETX (Enhanced Theatre eXperience). I think this is the next big rip-off for the movie going public, and I am interested in your opinion (especially with regard to their claims about ETX's sound). I saw THE GREY (good movie, by the way) at a matinee, and the ticket price was $14.50. It was $10.50 for the matinee (which is already high) and $4.00 for the ETX surcharge. When I asked what ETX was and why I was shelling out more dough for it, the kind teenager said, "The screen is really big, the picture is clear and sharp, and the sound is really loud and crisp." I replied, "Big picture and good sound? Funny. I remember when that was called just, 'going to the movies.'" She didn't look amused, but then again, she's making minimum wage. Granted, the screen was big, and the sound was loud. Still, they weren't offering anything special to justify a $14.50 matinee! The picture wasn't anything to write home about, it was actually rather grainy. I suspect that they enlarged the screen and brought it closer, but they are still using the same resolution projector as a regular auditorium and blowing the picture up. At least with an IMAX theatre, a larger film gauge is used to compensate for the larger screen. As for the sound, this is from their official press release: The ETX auditorium also boasts 12 audio channels fueled by 50,000 watts of power, which is a major upgrade and three times the power of typical auditoriums with six audio channels. As a result of this improved sight and sound experience, guests will not simply watch a movie. They will live it in ETX. This drives me nuts. What does 12 channels mean? I know for a fact that THE GREY wasn't specially mixed with 12 separate, discrete channels? Are they just pumping it through more amplifiers? And why is louder necessarily better? A loud theatre in an empty auditorium is not a good thing, folks. I believe this is a rip-off that the public should not tolerate. I used to work in a small movie theatre; the Classic Cinemas York Theatre in Elmhurst, IL. The theatre is still in business today. Maybe it's because they only charge $6.00 for a matinee and they understand that clean picture and good sound is a given when going to the movies. I urge you to take your business elsewhere, people. AMC needs to change this practice, or go out of business. Your thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angelo Waldron Posted February 1, 2012 Report Share Posted February 1, 2012 Michael...Hello. I ran over 100 Digital Cinema Package movies in studio part time last year, and the files were coming 2K JPeg2000 444 color and 6 track PCM audio. I guess if they delivered 4K and ran on 4K projector they could make up a new name for it. If they have 5 speakers behind the screen instead of 3, 4 channels of surround and 2 sub, I guess they could call it 12 channel. They could also be running separate amps for woofer and horn. I've only seen one DCP digital movie in an AMC at the Mall, and the image quality was poor. (J Edgar) I believe the extra price for the movie is to have a tech remove the REALD polarizing filter from in front of the lens for a 2D movie. We are seeing this happen in theaters.. lazy people running 2D without removing this filter, and it sucks out 30% of the light and color. When running a "movie" at a commerical theater for test marketing, they always send a tech to adjust it for optimum viewing, as nobody at theaters does this. We are finding much misalignment with the 3D filter, lens out of focus, (we focus every movie before running) and sound systems not adjusted well. From a reliable source.. ETX is just an excuse to charge more money. Bigger is not better....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chase Yeremian Posted February 1, 2012 Report Share Posted February 1, 2012 I saw The Grey at the hollywood arclight and it was quite grainy there as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olle Sjostrom Posted February 1, 2012 Report Share Posted February 1, 2012 7.1 Is pretty new, and that's 8 channels. Just doubling the 5.1 channels is... Ehm... Well. You could make a comparison with claiming an HD movie is really HD when it was shot with a mini-DV camera and just pulled up to HD. Technically HD, IRL not really. (null) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Heath Posted February 1, 2012 Report Share Posted February 1, 2012 I hate when going to see a movie in the middle of the day with no one in the theatre except 4-6 people and the theatre has the volume of the movie set to the loudest. When you have a full house sitting in the room, ok let it be loud, but you dont have to over do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramsay Posted February 1, 2012 Report Share Posted February 1, 2012 And this is why movie night is always at my house, not the theatre. My $1300.00 Epson Projector against a white wall with black painted frame, Polk speakers from the 80's, a decent sub and a modest Denon AV Amp outperforms every theatre I've been in and is always in focus. Plus all you can eat popcorn for maybe a dollar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geordi Posted February 2, 2012 Report Share Posted February 2, 2012 THX - The HOME eXperience. I have had the same thing with a quality Sony or Sharp (the current one) HDTV LCD, and the best surround processor that I can get from Sony to decode as many available formats into my professionally installed (by me) surround sound system with the sweet spot right where I sit. 3 2"cone front channel, 2" cones for all the others, and a 6" sub (Ok, this is in the front of an RV, it doesn't need to be loud, it needs to sound perfect) and I'm all good, thanks. The last couple times I have been to an actual theatre, I have been so disgusted by the lack of quality for the price... To say nothing about the rude people who won't STFU during the movie. One of these theatres was BLASTING the preview commercials at 98dB (Yea, I measured it from the middle of the room) and when I went to complain to the management that they were WAY overdoing it... The manager came in and listened, had to yell that she thought it was just fine, and refused to give me a refund or adjust the level to a proper one. No thanks, I like my ears. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Wielage Posted February 2, 2012 Report Share Posted February 2, 2012 AMC is now charging a premium to see films in ETX (Enhanced Theatre eXperience). I think this is the next big rip-off for the movie going public, and I am interested in your opinion. Imax, Pacific, Arclight, and most of the other big LA theater chains are trying to make more money through "premium" experiences like this. I noticed when I caught The Artist at the Arclight awhile back there was a sign that basically said, "$11.50 for regular admission, $1.50 extra on Friday night and Saturday nights, and $3.50 extra for 3D." So literally, two tickets could cost you close to $35 for some movies on some days. The local Pacific theater out here in Northridge has one deluxe theater with a 80'-wide screen and a sound system that claims 15,000 watts of power. (I've worked for radio stations with a tenth of that power.) What the industry analysts are finding is that audiences are shifting away from the old, smaller theaters and spending more money at the big, deluxe theaters that have "value added" services like better food, assigned seats, no commercials, and (theoretically) better picture and sound quality. I think in a great economy, nobody would question this, but it is troubling given the reality of life for average people at the moment. Some of the fake Imax (aka "Liemax") theaters are using stacked 2K projectors to deliver a bright picture on a huge screen. As good as it is, it's not the same as 70mm film. But it's definitely better than a crappy suburban multiplex. And a lot of the smaller theaters are crumbling as a result. I noticed that the Laemmle Theaters on Sunset shut down a couple of months ago, which is sad; I worked on quite a few indie projects that went through there, back in the day. Aside from the "premium" features, what makes me crazy are ongoing basic problems in projection and sound: audible hum in one or more channels, inconsistent levels, keystoning problems (projector slightly off to one side), misframed pictures, dead surround speakers, and stuff like that, all of which are easily fixed. At the moment, I don't see these problems in the premium theaters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
studiomprd Posted February 2, 2012 Report Share Posted February 2, 2012 " They could also be running separate amps for woofer and horn. " Bi-amp setup... BTW, be careful of the power numbers... way way back when HiFi was new, some manufacturers claimed rather high power for rather small amplifiers that could deliver instaneous peaks but not sustained power. The FTC made rules (laws) that power ratinbg quoted must be continuous sinusidual power from 20-20,000 CPS (now Hz), both channels (for Stereo) driven. This is pretty significant as it strains the amplifier components, heat sinking/cooling, and power supplies. v Now we have digital power ratings, and they are basically the old "peak power" capabilities, so what used to be a 75W amplifier is now called a 250 watt amplifier, --or more... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShubiSnax Posted February 2, 2012 Report Share Posted February 2, 2012 250 WATTS OF POWER 75 Watts RMS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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