Mmmmmm.... DLP

3 miles from my house is a fairly new multiplex cinema with 24 screens. In and of itself this is not an amazing fact. But what's cool is that the Texas Instruments facility responsible for the DLP digital projection technology that is taking the world by storm is only a few more miles down the road. So this handy little cinema is the primary DLP "beta-site". While the rest of the nation has only a handful of DLP screens available for watching films in super clear and bright digital projection, this cinema down the road has two of them. Two! And one of them is a brand new true HD 2K DLP. All the rest of the DLP projectors in service in the world are HD720 resolution. (1280x720). But right around the corner I have this wonderful 1920x1080 pixel DLP screen. They installed it for the opening of The Incredibles last winter. I've since seen The Incredibles, Robots, Madagascar and Star Wars on that DLP screen. Tomorrow night I'll be going to see Corpse Bride on it. In a few months I'm sure Chicken Little will make it's appearance there as well. The image quality is just flat out amazing. Imagine watching a digitally animated film on a super bright and crisp computer monitor that's 45 feet wide. It's that good. The details are all right there, you see so much more of the amazing work that goes into making a feature film. Most theaters that project film in the U.S. are nowhere even close to this good looking. Many exhibitors run their projectors at reduced wattage to save on bulb life (lower wattage = dimmer, muddier projection with less saturation, crushed blacks, etc.) Add to that the inherent loss of integrity of taking a digital movie to a film out and in your typical film theater you're not getting even 2/3rds the original quality of the movie as the makers designed it. Once you've seen DLP projection, all else seems crappy and cheap.
I'm really looking forward to watching Corpse Bride on that screen tomorrow night. (CB was shot with high end still photography digital cameras, so there's no mud or loss of integrity involved).
So while all my animator friends in LA try to arouse my jealousy with tales of ASIFA & Academy screenings and all, I just smile and mumble four little words.... "2-k DLP. Mmmmmmmm".