Nov 15
In the days before movies had soundtracks, it’s easy to assume that going to the cinema was a silent experiences. Not so. In fact, movie theaters were packed with innovations to create dramatic soundscapes and keep viewers engaged. More »
Oct 24
The CinemaCon crowd may not have been keen on 48fps footage of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, but we defy anyone to say they don’t want the best sound possible. A select few will get just that, as Dolby and Peter Jackson’s own Park Road Post Production have announced the film will be mixed for the speaker-packed Atmos technology. If you’re lucky enough to live near one of the select establishments it’s installed in, we doubt you’ll be grumbling about the immersive audio, even if the frame rate makes those orcs look unsettlingly real.
Update: That link of “select establishments” is somewhat out of date and, although the official list of locations you’ll be able to see The Hobbit in Atmos has yet to be released, Dolby says there should be between 80 and 100 screens capable of delivering the over-the-top audio experience by the film’s debut.
Continue reading The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey to receive the Dolby Atmos treatment
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey to receive the Dolby Atmos treatment originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 24 Oct 2012 14:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | | Email this | Comments
Oct 20
Outdoor cinemas were all the rage in the past, and it looks like they’re making a grand comeback. I’m not talking about drive-in theaters though. Rather, I’m talking about the Hot Tub Cinema.
Yeah, the pictures don’t lie. The Hot Tub Cinema is a traveling screening event that’s currently making the rounds in East London, and it looks like it’s been a huge hit so far. I mean, who doesn’t want to watch a movie while taking a bath with hundreds of other strangers, right?
This particular one was held on the rooftop of Netil360, where classics like Top Gun and Anchorman were screened against London’s grand skyline.
Hot Tub Cinema began privately about seven years ago. Since then it has grown in increments, reaching the stage of a handful of hot tubs in a garden in Stoke Newington about 18 months ago at which point we realised it was time to find some new & exciting venues for our expanding endeavors.
The Hot Tub Cinema has a couple of events scheduled for the Halloween season, which you can check out here. They’re all going to be held in London though, so if you happen to be there, drop by for a truly one-of-a-kind movie-watching experience.
[via Pop Up City]
Oct 07
Apple might boast that the iPhone’s screen makes watching movies a pleasure, but I wouldn’t consider watching a movie on such a tiny screen pleasurable.
But if you can’t shell out a couple of hundred bucks just yet for an iPad (or a new TV), then the Mini Cinema for the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S might just be right up your alley.
It’s basically a stand with an acoustic amplifier and magnifying surface that’ll give you better sound and a larger screen to look at, without the need for any extra batteries or external power. It won’t let you screen movies for everyone in the room, but I think it’s just perfect for watching a flick with a small group.
The Mini Cinema is available from Oh Need for $68 (USD).
[via knstrct]
Sep 27
Back in the 1950s, the movie theater was a venue for radical experimentation. As the home TV kept people rooted to their sofas and out of cinemas, Hollywood was bold in the way it used technology to lure people back to the silver screen. Cinerama was just one of those ideas—but one that crashed and burned. More »
Sep 17
Late last month, Canon added yet another model to its Cinema EOS line — the C100 captures 1080p video, rather than the 4K clips enabled with the C500, but it also costs a heck of a lot less, at just shy of eight grand. It also offers some other nifty features, such as a pair of built-in mics and a duo of XLR inputs at the front of the top handle, SD card slots on the rear and a new autofocus button — it’s not a continuous solution, offering only single-shot, but it sure beats not having the feature at all.
The camera is surprisingly lightweight, given its size and capability, and can be held quite comfortably with a single hand, as we did during our hands-on at Photokina earlier today. With a modular design, the camera featured a 3.5-inch 920k-dot LCD in its current configuration, and offers the standard suite of ports, including HDMI output with embedded time code. It also includes an ISO range of 3200 to 20,000, a maximum shutter speed of 1/2000 second and a built-in ND filter. The C100 is expected to hit stores in November for $7,999, but you can take a closer look right now in our gallery below and the hands-on video just past the break.
Gallery: Canon Cinema EOS C100 hands-on
Continue reading Canon Cinema EOS C100 hands-on (video)
Filed under: Cameras
Canon Cinema EOS C100 hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 17 Sep 2012 09:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | | Email this | Comments
Sep 13
Cached away for over a century, the world’s first color moving pictures have been shown for the first time yesterday, according to the National Media Museum in the UK. The celluloid, shot by inventor Edward Raymond Turner in 1899, was actually in black and white and it was only through a curator’s research that its colorful significance was also unearthed.
When the footage was first shot, each frame was run consecutively through red, green or blue gels, and the process needed to be reversed during projection to reveal the color. Fortunately, a blueprint by the inventor of how to do just that was also found, allowing the institution’s team to replicate the process digitally to produce the final footage.
This type of color gel processing didn’t take off in the early 20th century due to the mechanical complexity, and it would have been inferior to a chemical process since each frame carried only one-third of the full color information. Still, it required a clever mind to dream it up, with an equally big brain to uncover it and finally give Turner his due. See the video below the break for the stunning un-retouched, non-hand-colored results.
[Image Credit: National Media Museum]
Continue reading World’s oldest color film footage discovered in museum archive (video)
World’s oldest color film footage discovered in museum archive (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 13 Sep 2012 08:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink 
iO9 | 
National Media Museum | Email this | Comments
Sep 07
The New York Times is reporting that 20th Cenutry Fox is going to offer high-quality movie downloads weeks ahead of Blu-ray release using the DRM locker service UltraViolet. Costing around $15 a pop, it’s planning to start with the upcoming release of Prometheus. More »
Aug 29
Canon announces EOS C100 cinema camera, confirms October shipping for the C500
Posted in: Today's Chili 
Canon already gave those looking for a full-frame DSLR plenty to think about recently, and now it’s stirring up the movie-maker’s pot. It’s just announced a new member to its EOS digital cinema collection — the EOS C100 — and given us a better idea of when we can expect that C500 to land. The C100 essentially offers a new prospect for those with pockets not quite so deep. Unlike its 4K sibling, the C100 offers 1,920 x 1,080 AVCHD via its Super 35mm 16:9 CMOS sensor, has an ISO range of 320 to 20,000 and sports the EF mount system. Other features of interest include a push auto iris function, one-shot auto focus, a multi-angle 3.5-inch LCD and a locking HDMI output. The C500, meanwhile, has now been tipped for an October debut with that princely $30,000 price-tag. But, if the C100 sounds more your jive, then you can scoop one up in November for a slightly less tax-deductible $7,999. Canon also took the opportunity to offer up two new cinema lenses: the CN-E15.5-47mm T2.8 L S/SP wide-angle and the CN-E30-105mm T2.8 L S/SP telephoto. Care to know more? Focus on the PR after the break.
Continue reading Canon announces EOS C100 cinema camera, confirms October shipping for the C500
Filed under: Cameras
Canon announces EOS C100 cinema camera, confirms October shipping for the C500 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 29 Aug 2012 04:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | | Email this | Comments
Aug 28
While LG clearly thinks there’s still some life in the super-wide format, Philips isn’t so sure. In fact, the electronics stalwart has apparently just announced that it won’t be releasing any more 21:9 TVs, due to lack of interest. Despite having regularly released new extra-wide sets since 2009, including 3D models, according to FlatpanelsHD, a spokesperson confirmed that demand barely meets the firm’s requirements for mass production, and as such it’s no longer viable. That’s not to say that Philips is bowing out of big screens altogether though — on the contrary — it goes on to state that 50-inch screens, and above, are becoming increasingly important. For now, however, it looks like it’ll be back to good old 16:9.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD
Philips gives 21:9 TVs a wide berth, ceases production to focus on 16:9 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 28 Aug 2012 17:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Who's in charge here?
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.