While I enjoyed the overall experience of high-quality cinema, I always wanted to know more about how it all works and how it’s put together. Ster-Kinekor was kind enough to open its doors for me to explore the world beyond the ‘simple’ projection on-screen and see what really makes IMAX cinemas work.
Ster-Kinekor IMAX Is About More Than Just A Big Screen
IMAX theatres not only provide a unique experience to users, they also offer a global standard across the globe, which include highly efficient, highly secure, and highly automated movie screenings wherever you may be. As little as 10 years ago, films were still shipped by means of reels, which had to be unpacked, loaded and fed into each of the analogue projectors, often having to repeat the process 10 times a day. Not only has the process become a lot more secure, but also a lot more efficient… unless, of course, you’re having to explain it detail by detail.
Movies are still shipped on a physical medium, a terabyte hard drive, which is then ‘ingested’ (i.e. copied) by the control unit. Each movie, on average, consumes between 250GB and 300GB of storage, with animated films consuming less than 100GB due to the difference in codecs (coding and decoding) used since animation uses fewer colours.
IMAX Security
To provide additional security, each hard drive is encrypted with a unique key, which means it can only be played on a single machine for a specific amount of time. Security measures are further increased by splitting the playable file into 15 to 20-minute chunks of XML, which are ‘stitched’ together during playback and synced with the sound. There are a few additional measures in place to maintain the integrity of each of the screenings, which highlights the steps needed to guard against piracy in the event that any of the drives were to be stolen or leaked beforehand.
The control box handles all of these initial steps and also performs another important step in the process—automation. Gone are the days when projectionists were required to drive the complete behind-the-scenes setup and screening. Instead, the control box can be updated once a week to ingest the content and pre-schedule ads, trailers, and feature films to keep everything running on schedule.
In addition to this, the box can also be accessed via a secure VPN and controlled remotely by the SK engineers.
The IMAX Projectors
The Ster-Kinekor IMAX projectors themselves are quite the mini-marvel, not simply by means of the actual projection but all the inner workings. The dual setup projection system runs in the form of a slave and master, with the former weighing a reasonable 150KG, whereas the master well above 800KG. In order to keep all the components at their highest performance, the integrity of the projectors has to be maintained, which means that only one or two panels from the box are allowed to be opened, the rest of which will trigger alarms and trip the projection.
As a result, these beasts require specially coordinated planning to install in the theatres. This has undoubtedly caused quite a lot of headaches for the team, who’ve had to take down a wall, ramp, and pulley system to bring IMAX to already existing theatres, only to have to rebuild those said walls once in position.
The projection system is complicated. In order to provide optimum projection and keep to the running schedule, IMAX requires the projectors to be running for the entire work day, with only a set of shutters used to black out the screens once the movie has ended… again, an automated process. There is some manual intervention with the replacement of the massively powerful lamps, which have to be changed every 4-6 weeks depending on the wear on those lamps over said timelines.
The IMAX Lamps
The IMAX lamps themselves are a force to be reckoned with, requiring special protective gear even when not powered up. Each lamp generates enough energy to create a tiny explosive, so maintenance and integrity are high on the list of daily checks from Ster-Kinekor around the country.
The xenon short-arc lamps produce more than enough light emission, which means that they typically only run within 80% of their maximum output. This is increased even further by concurrent projection from two lamps, which is why the brightness is so much better than that of the standard theatre projector.
There are many who’d argue that during 3D playback, the lighting isn’t bright enough, but when you consider the amount of light lost through the lens reflection off the screen and then again through your 3D glasses, you can understand why. Also, it’s not just a matter of turning this up higher, as it would create damaging effects on the naked eye.
Ster-Kinekor IMAX Sound Setup
When it comes to sound, the IMAX theatre setup has a strict policy on how the setup is put together. If you’ve sat through the introductions leading up to an IMAX screening, you’ll no doubt have come across the visual and audio demo for the system, “taking you from a pin drop to the rumble of a jet engine.”
The combination of bass and high-frequency sounds is a perfectly tuned sound system, laser-aligned and strategically placed so that you can experience the full effect throughout the theatre. The system is tuned by means of microphones throughout the venue to measure the exact volumes, frequencies, and distortions.
Further to that, the system also has a fallback built into it in the event that one or more speakers blow or are distorted. The system then compensates for this by boosting sounds through one of the many other speakers, so you, as the viewer, are none the wiser.
The Screen Design
Part of the sound setup extends into the screen design.
The screen itself has been designed to provide optimum reflection, effectively almost double that of the standard tarped fabric. The screen is silver, and the fabric has tiny mirror particles within it to make this possible. As for the sound, there is a set of front-of-house speakers behind the screen, which means the screen has a perforated design to allow the frequencies to pass through without causing vibrations on the screen and around the room and negating any muffled sounds as a result.
The screen is also stretched up to 10% when mounted. Standing in front of the screen allows a full view of these perforations, as well as the very notable curvature, giving viewers the best view of the screen from any angle.
How Ster-Kinekor IMAX Automation Works
Having already mentioned the highly automated features of the typical movie theatre setup at Ster-Kinekor, it’s also worth noting that the entire IMAX theatre is being monitored 24x7x365 for optimal performance. Engineers residing in London pick up triggers whenever there’s a misalignment, audio quality drop, or screen brightness off and prompt the local teams to rectify the issue before the next screening is allowed to take place.
With over 1,250 IMAX theatres in 75 countries, this is no small task, over and above the complicated logistics when it comes to shipping the hard drives and unique keys to authenticate each.
Even further to the above-mentioned details, there’s still a host of other technicalities I’ve skipped over, such as the ventilation, networks, and other logistical compliances needed to keep the system up and running. This makes for an impressive and truly global experience whenever you sit and enjoy your box of popcorn in an IMAX theatre.
Having spent an hour behind the scenes at a local Ster-Kinekor theatre, I was in awe of the amount of skill that goes into the IMAX experience and how it all works. It’s times like these that I have learned to appreciate the perks of my job.
Tell us what your thoughts are on Ster-Kinekor’s IMAX cinemas. Leave a comment below.
Hi Evan, I’m a budding cinephile and an IMAX fan. Thank you for this very interesting review. It’s amazing what’s going on behind the scenes! Excuse the pun, lol.
Glad you enjoyed it. There’s actually even more going on, but a lot of that revolves around logistics, maintenance, etc. It’s a continuous operation challenge, especially given the lamp lifespan and volatility.