Outdoor Movies 3D Package?

It is with interest that we have seen a seller of outdoor movie screens announce plans to offer  a 3D outdoor movie system. Their press release and website are understandably short of details. We will be interested to see which technology they have chosen.

As a leading pioneer in Outdoor 3D, and with our experience screening a 3D movie to 5,000 viewers using the RealD system on our projectors, we know what the challenges are!  Pioneering technologies comes at a price.

The basics of 3D are simple, there is a movie for the right eye and a movie for the left, so you actually show two movies. A 3D projector and polarizing filter alternates the image very quickly. The glasses make sure each eye only sees the movie it is supposed to see.  The challenge for outdoor display is that showing two movies at once (3D) requires enough light to show the two movies. So the projector must be 50-100% brighter for an equivalent brightness to a 2D display. So there is no real "cheap" 3D.

Stay tuned, there will be more news on this topic! We welcome your comments and feedback.

Great trade article featuring AIRSCREEN!

Here is a link to a great new trade article on the quality difference of an AIRSCREEN inflatable screen.

Hearing impaired and deaf outdoor movie viewers

We regularly are asked to display subtitles at our outdoor movie events and endeavor to provide subtitles when requested by deaf and hearing impaired patrons. 

I recently received an email from a colleague with a good question, "Most of the time when we get a request for captioning, we simply select the English subtitles. This week at a show the dvd didn't offer English subtitles and we could not figure out how to access any closed captions. It seems the problem is in the authoring of the dvd. Broadcast signals must have closed captions but apparently the same rules do not apply to dvd authoring or dvd player manufacturers. Anyone else have any experience with this issue?".

I answered that he was correct. Most newer DVD's are authored to offer accessibility to our deaf brothers and sisters using subtitles. Older titles often offer subtitles only in other languages. The DVD description online has this info so you can be prepared in advance.

IMDB used to offer more complete DVD/BluRay details but no longer does. Amazon does however off this info. So for outdoor movie operators, it is fairly easy to do the research.

For your outdoor movie screen, what lumen projector is right?

We get asked this question all the time. We also get asked if a brighter projector can help get their outdoor movie event started earlier.

Here are our answers:

1. The math for calculating brightness is easy. We are going to use 16:9 ratio projectors and inflatable screens for this exercise. Take the lumens and divide it by the square feet of the screen surface. So for example, we sell a 5,000 lumen hidef projector with our 24'x13.5' Aeropro HD-PRO Package. 24x13.5'=324 sf. 5000/324=15.4. The resultant calculation is a measurement called foot lamberts. The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers and the Research Council of the Academy of Motion Pictures has set 14-16  foot lamberts as the standard. So 15.4 is plenty of light!
2. Does more brightness mean we can start our outdoor movie earlier? The answer is - yes and no! More brightness means you may see a picture. However, in projection, the color black is created by darkness any ambient light destroys black levels and washes out colors.

Comments and questions are always welcome!

Bob Deutsch
Outdoor Movies

Inflatable screen - Safety Part 3 - You

In this series we look at possible injuries you might sustain operating an outdoor movie screen or package. This list is by no means complete and is meant simply as thought provoking article, not medical advice. Speak with a doctor about your particular situation if you have a concern.

1. Back strain/injury - when moving heavy items, exercise basic common sense! If in doubt get help!  If you haven't lifted anything over the winter, you are out of shape. Use good biomechanics or a back brace. Also, if you can get the equipment to where you will be using it, there is less wok for you. In short be careful, get help, don't be a hero.

2. Shoulder injury - any work involving stress which takes place above your shoulder involves the risk of shoulder injury. Generally speaking, while holding screen tethers, do not do so above shoulder level. This is important! Also, repeating myself, use good biomechanics. I dislocated a shoulder trying to lift a subwoofer into a cargo van, I was stooped over and turned so that the speaker was slightly behind me.  You don't want to do this it hurts!

3. Sun and dehydration - doing a setup on a 95 degree day with 95% humidity will drain you. Drink fluids to the point where you urinate every hour up to one liter of fluid per hour. Take breaks and know your limits. Do not wear a black outfit and use a baseball cap as well.  It is tempting to forgo sunscreen when doing an install because you sweat it off pretty quickly and its sticky nature just makes more dirt stick to you. Use the sunscreen anyway! And reapply frequently.

These three bits of advice may seem completely common sense but you would shocked how often they are not followed. Staying uninjured and comfortable through the season is our wish for you from Outdoor Movies!

Bob Deutsch
www.outdoor-movies.com

WalMart Outdoor Movie screen review and pics (not our product)

So out of curiosity I bought one of the $200 deluxe screens from WalMart. Was I impressed not really but at $200 you can't complain, unless you want to get political about buying Chinese, etc., etc. The pressure in the frame is really low so it wobbles and really needs the ropes to keep it from being super floppy. I like th two integtrated fans, sorta cute. The screen surface is not a real screen surface and it does not get stretched tight enough to be free of wrinkles and waves... but hey its $200. I'll edit this post to add pics by the end of the day. Anybody else with this screen?