Dolby Cinema is a type of premium large format movie theater created by

Dolby Laboratories Dolby Laboratories, Inc. (Dolby Labs or simply Dolby) is a British-American technology corporation specializing in audio noise reduction, audio data compression, audio encoding/compression, spatial audio, and high-dynamic-range television (H ...

that combines Dolby proprietary technologies such as

Dolby Vision Dolby Vision is a set of technologies developed by Dolby Laboratories for high dynamic range (HDR) video. It covers content creation, distribution, and playback. It includes dynamic metadata that define the aspect ratio and adjust the picture ...

and

Dolby Atmos Dolby Atmos is a surround sound technology developed by Dolby Laboratories. It expands on existing surround sound systems by adding height channels as well as free-moving sound objects, interpreted as three-dimensional objects with neither horiz ...

, as well as other signature entrance and intrinsic design features. The technology competes with

IMAX IMAX is a proprietary system of High-definition video, high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and movie theater, theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio (image), aspect ratio (approximately ei ...

and other premium large formats such as Cinemark XD and Regal's RPX (Regal Premium Experience).

History

The first installations featuring Dolby Cinema were JT (now Vue) Bioscopen Cinema in Eindhoven, Netherlands on December 18, 2014; followed by Cinesa La Maquinista in Barcelona, Spain. Dolby Laboratories has partner contracts with Cinesa, Vue Cinemas,

AMC Theatres AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. (doing business as AMC Theatres, originally an abbreviation for American Multi-Cinema; often referred to simply as AMC) is an American movie theater chain founded in Kansas City, Missouri, and now headquartered ...

(known as Dolby Cinema at AMC, formerly Dolby Cinema at AMC Prime until early 2017),

Cineplexx Cinemas Cineplexx is a cinema company based in Vienna, Austria, owned by Constantin Film-Foundation. The company was founded in 1993, and operates mainly in Austria where it is the largest cinema chain with 28 locations, mostly Multiplex (movie theater) ...

, Wanda Cinemas, Jackie Chan Cinema, Reel Cinemas and

Odeon Cinemas Odeon Cinemas Limited, trading as Odeon (stylised in all caps), is a cinema brand name operating in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Norway and Greece, which along with UCI Cinemas and Nordic Cinema Group is part of the Odeon Cinemas Group subsi ...

to install Dolby Cinemas. On May 26, 2017, Dolby announced they made a deal with Pathé Cinémas to open 10 new locations in Europe. Seven will be located in France and three will be located in The Netherlands. By 2024, France will have 12 Dolby Cinema theatres in Pathé cinemas: including 3 in Paris, 1 in

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine, in northwestern France. It is in the prefecture of Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one ...

Rennes Rennes (; ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in Northwestern France at the confluence of the rivers Ille and Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the Brittany (administrative region), Brittany Regions of F ...

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

, and near the

Charles de Gaulle Airport Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport , also known as Roissy Airport, is the primary international airport serving Paris, the capital city of France. The airport opened in 1974 and is located in Roissy-en-France, northeast of Paris. It is named for ...

Technology

Dolby Vision

Dolby Cinema uses a

projection system developed by Dolby Laboratories in conjunction with Christie Digital. The system consists of dual Christie 4K 6P (primary) modular laser projectors featuring a custom design to allow for unique light path. The system is capable of delivering up to 48 cd/m² on unity-gain matte-white screens for 3D (and up to 106 cd/m² for 2D), a substantial improvement on current generation 3D systems which deliver in the range of 10 to 14 cd/m² for 3D. The result is improved brightness, color, and contrast compared to traditional xenon projectors. The first theaters temporarily used off-the-shelf dual Christie 4K laser projectors until the Dolby Vision-capable ones were shipped out in spring 2015. Dolby 3D uses spectrum separation, where the two projectors function in stacked operation with each projector emitting a slightly different wavelength of red, green, and blue primary. There is no polarization present on the projector, and the 3D spectacles have notch filters that block the primaries used by the projector projecting the image intended for the other eye. Dolby Vision is able to display the following combinations of resolution and frame-rate: * 2K – 2D at 120 Hz, 60 Hz, 48 Hz, and 30 Hz * 2K – 3D at 120 Hz, 60 Hz, 48 Hz, and 30 Hz per eye/projector * 4K – 2D at 120 Hz, 60 Hz, 48 Hz, and 30 Hz * 4K – 3D at 120 Hz, 60 Hz, 48 Hz, and 30 Hz per eye/projector Although the twin projectors are capable of displaying the 7 500:1 contrast ratio defined by the DCI fixed luminance gamma function, for movies not graded with Dolby Vision, the projectors are limited to 5 000:1 contrast ratio. The Hollywood studios have graded over 100 films directly on Dolby Cinema projectors, the creative team can then create content with contrast ratios of 1 000 000:1.

Dolby Atmos

Another component of the Dolby Cinema experience is

, an object-oriented, 3-D immersive surround-sound format developed by Dolby Laboratories. The system is capable of 128 simultaneous audio inputs utilizing up to 65 individual speakers to enhance viewer immersion. The first film to support the new format was Disney and Pixar's animated film '' Brave'', released in 2012.

Signature entrance

Most Dolby Cinema feature a curved video wall entrance displaying content related to the feature film playing in the auditorium. The content displayed on the video wall is specifically generated by the film studio and is intended to immerse viewers in the movie experience before the movie has started. The video is generated using multiple short throw high definition projectors in the entrance ceiling and proprietary software is used to pixel map the different images together along the wall. Similarly, the audio is generated using speakers placed in the ceiling of the entrance.

References

External links

Dolby Cinema Homepage

{{commons category Dolby Laboratories High dynamic range Premium large format movie formats Surround sound