D I G I T A L
The new Savoy Grantham – A Series 4 showcase On Thursday 18 July, the new 700-seat, five-screen cinema in
Screen 1 of five is a Premium Large
Grantham, Lincolnshire, UK, opened to much fanfare. The Grantham
Format auditorium that boasts the
Savoy will be the chain’s fifth cinema in its Midland’s-based network,
latest laser 4k digital projection
with a sixth due to open in Doncaster in coming months.
combined with a Dolby Atmos sound system. This screen has 186
There was a significant mix of local councillors and VIPs there to
seats and is the largest, with the
celebrat, together with a wide selection of the UK’s cinema exhibition
auditorium equipped with the first
community. It was quite the party atmosphere at the opening
in the UK of Barco’s latest Series 4
reception held in the spacious box office and concessions area.
RGB laser projection technology. The projection system will be complemented by 28 separate surround channels of sound in
The Cinema Quarter is the first new town centre development in
addition to left, centre, right, and subwoofers behind the screen.
Grantham for more than 30 years and — apart from the cinema itself — the building will house a new centre for the University of Lincoln, as
“We are extremely pleased to be including the first Barco Series 4
well as space for two restaurants. It is adjacent to South Kesteven
laser projector in the UK,” declared Savoy’s MD James Collington on
District Council’s headquarters and a 300-space car park. Previously,
the opening night, “and this will be complemented by Dolby Atmos
the nearest cinema was 19 miles away — a long stretch for the locals.
immersive sound to launch our new Vertex 4K format in screen 1.”
and power efficiency. According to the original press release,
lasers are actually infrared lasers with a second crystal used
the TRP chipset has the ability to produce up to 100% higher
to double the frequency and halve the wavelength to provide
brightness on a frame-by-frame basis, while also consuming
green light. The infrared is then filtered out so that it is only
up to 50% less power. This 2013 announcement heralded a
green light that is output.
whole slew of new pico projectors that have become brighter with a higher resolution, despite their small size, with the
Series 4 Cinionic projectors
ability to run more efficiently — often on battery power.
Alongside NEC and Christie, Cinionic is one of the first cinema
This reduced size aspect represents one of the major
manufacturers to make use of this new chipset from TI and it
advances of the new 4K chip — a smaller chip requires smaller
has coined the Series 4 moniker for its product range from
components to work meaning that the final cost of the
Barco. For Cinionic and Barco, this is more than simply a new
product is correspondingly more affordable. While this article
4K chipset that uses the same form
focuses on Cinionic’s use of the 4K chip (and the phrase
factor
“Series 4” is a marketing term mainly in use by them), it is
(conveniently allowing for the use of
worth noting that both Christie and NEC also use the TI DMD
many of the same components and
chipsets and have themselves launched new ranges of
designs across a whole range of
projectors that make use of both the new TI .98” 4K chipset
projectors).
together with the development in laser light levels.
technology will deliver an unmatched
How laser light is developing
as
the
previous
This
next
2K
one
generation
cinema experience for moviegoers today, future-proofed for tomorrow.
“In tandem with chip developments, technology in laser light has also developed at rapid pace in cinema”
In tandem with developments in the chips used in projectors
The Barco Series 4 models from Cinionic have specifically
for professional applications, laser light technology has also
focused on four areas. The company describes them thus: a
developed at a fairly rapid pace within the cinema sector. To
brilliant image; being ready for tomorrow today; fit & forget;
begin with, the green laser colour of the RGB was expensive
and Barco EcoPure.
and difficult to create and that is why frequently blue light is used which is then altered to create the green colour — this is
A brilliant image…
especially so with laser phosphor projectors. However, several
The Barco AIM (Active Image Management) technology
companies and research groups have found new ways to
guarantees flawless images through the implementation of
create the green laser that is its own distinct colour, in the
Barco patents on image control, processing and driving,
same way that red and blue are. The most common green
enabled through the years of experience in cinema. The new
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Pioneering work: Omnex engineers install the latest Barco projectors at Savoy Grantham
www.cinematech.today
04/08/2019 12:41
