Two of the world’s greatest movie festivals — in Venice and Toronto — have simply concluded, the place filmmakers and movie lovers alike have skilled the easiest of cinema exhibition. These from India will now should return residence and resign themselves to the sub-par expertise of watching motion pictures in our cinema theatres, and the distinction will doubtless be stark. Right here, many a time the image is dim, uninteresting and washed out. If you happen to haven’t seen this but, preserve a watch out the subsequent time.

Going to the cinema is a bit like going to church. The cool darkish auditorium, the towering display, the hushed silence, all make for an immersive, nearly non secular course of. This additionally signifies that in need of one thing egregious, you’re unlikely to query the character of the expertise, aside from grumbling concerning the value of popcorn.

“I typically discover {that a} film I’ve seen within the corridor appears to be like significantly better on OTT — the colors, the sunshine and shadow, the main points,” says acclaimed movie critic Baradwaj Rangan. “Individuals speak concerning the large display expertise however why will you go for the large display when the standard is so poor? I can get a significantly better image at residence!”

The grim state of the movie-watching expertise includes many parts, starting from excessive ticket costs and more and more smaller screens, to sound leakage from the subsequent auditorium, however for this text, the main target is on projection. There are roughly 9,000 screens throughout the nation and, inevitably, there may be a variety within the high quality one encounters. The venues that ship the very best requirements of projection are few and much between. For a rustic obsessive about cinema, it is a obvious downside.

Fading lamp projectors

The beating coronary heart of the cinema theatre is the projector, an enormous, shiny, light-emitting machine that throws the picture onto the display. The present crop of digital projectors can broadly be divided into two sorts, the older ones that use lamps as a light-weight supply, and the newer ones that use laser beams to undertaking the picture. The overwhelming majority of theatres in India nonetheless use lamp projectors.

The brightness of a cinema display is often measured in foot lamberts (fL). Because the days of movie projection, the brightness degree that theatres are anticipated to hit is 14 fL. However typically what we get right here in India is properly in need of this.

“Lasers are 20%-25% dearer and much newer in comparison with lamp projectors,” says Senthil Kumar, co-founder of Qube Cinema, a number one supplier of digital cinema options (together with projectors) in India. “So, laser projectors will likely be a really small proportion in India, perhaps 10%-15%”.

These projectors are advanced machines with a number of delicately balanced elements. This complexity signifies that a projector must be finely calibrated, and operated and maintained with care, to make sure that the viewers will get the absolute best expertise.

I bear in mind watching the Mammooty-starrer Bramayugam (2024) at a close-by multiplex in Chennai. The black-and-white movie, a people horror-thriller set in seventeenth century Malabar, is a visible masterpiece in monochrome, with the blacks and whites and the distinction between them essential to the expertise. However when the movie began to play, every thing simply regarded uninteresting and gray. I used to be questioning if this was a deliberate alternative from the filmmakers, so as soon as I received residence I checked the trailer of the film on my cellphone. I used to be shocked to grasp it regarded fully completely different. I felt cheated.

Shehnad Jalal, the cinematographer of Bramayugam, agrees.

There are just a few causes for this sort of sub-par projection. On the core of that is the sunshine supply in most of those projectors, the lamp. These lamps steadily lose brightness as they age, and have a lifespan of some months. Changing the lamp can price as much as ₹50,000 relying on the mannequin, and the theatre should do that for every display, each few months. “In the direction of the top of its life, the lamp will begin to deteriorate, and it received’t have the ability to present full brightness any extra. A little bit earlier than that time, one should exchange it. However theatres could wait until the lamp completely fades away,” says Kumar of Qube.

Sebastian C.V., projectionist at Surabhi Cinemas in Thrissur, Kerala, agrees. He says, “In some locations, the projectionists could run the lamp for a pair hundred hours greater than they’re rated for. It’s an costly part in spite of everything.” For sure, the projected picture from a lamp on the verge of dying will likely be abysmal.

Compromising on brightness

Some exhibitors have been recognized to chop prices in different methods, too. One in all them is to run the projector at a decrease brightness, to lengthen the lifetime of the lamp. “Usually, on the day of a film’s launch, they’ll run the lamp with good brightness,” says Sathesh Thulasi, affiliate vp at Qube. “Then regularly they’ll lower it.”

Lately, Kushan Patel, a movie fanatic and communications skilled in Vadodara, went for a present of the blockbuster Sinners (2025), headlined by Michael B. Jordan, at his native multiplex, and seen the projection was too dim. He rounded up some fellow viewers and complained to the supervisor. “After some denial and protests, they agreed and restarted the movie with higher brightness,” says Patel.

Theatre homeowners are most likely banking on the truth that viewers received’t discover the distinction. In the midst of researching this text, I discovered that was certainly the case. Relatively than dwell on the image high quality — or the dearth thereof — the typical viewer doesn’t appear tothink there may be a lot of an issue in theatres. That stated, some movie technicians are optimistic concerning the scenario slowlychanging. “Even a ₹10,000 Android cellphone has , shiny display. So the general public has a greater concept now, of how an image should look,” says Manesh Madhavan, the cinematographer behind the atmospheric Malayalam movie Ela Veezha Poonchira (2022).

Standardisation wanted

Technicians have at all times railed in opposition to the poor high quality of projection in theatres in India. Within the days of movie, the understanding was that theatres in ‘A centres’ — the large cities — would run their projectors shiny, whereas B and C centres (smaller cities and villages) had been recognized to run their projectors dimmer to chop prices. “So after they made prints for the A centres, they might make it accurately, for B centres they might make it one cease brighter, and for C centres they’d do two stops brighter, to try to compensate for the projection loss,” says Jalal.

With the arrival of digital projection, these previous equations are out of the window. You’ll be able to encounter dangerous, dim projection in each cities and villages now. “When Ang Lee watched his movie Lifetime of Pi [2012] at Sathyam Cinemas in Chennai, he remarked that it was most likely the most effective projection he’d seen,” says Devanshu Arya, a Chennai-based filmmaker, concerning the cinema theatre which was subsequently acquired by multiplex chain PVR-INOX. “However now the standard at Sathyam has deteriorated a lot,” he provides.

PVR was on the forefront of the multiplex revolution in India, establishing the primary multiplex in 1997 in New Delhi. As of December 2024, the merged entity of PVR-INOX operates 1,749 screens throughout 355 properties in 111 cities throughout India and Sri Lanka. Once we reached out to them with queries concerning the variety of laser projectors of their venues or the standard of projection, PVR-INOX declined to remark. Cinepolis, probably the second largest exhibitor in India, operates 449 screens. We reached out to them too with comparable queries, however didn’t hear again on the time of going to press.

And but, whereas the image high quality stays inconsistent, exhibitors are pleased to spend on ostentatious interiors, recliner seats, connoisseur meals, and different bells and whistles. “Many theatres now have completely different priorities, they need to present luxurious facilities, however they don’t care concerning the core points of the expertise,” says cinematographer Madhavan.

“Standardisation is what is required,” provides S. Radhakrishnan, award-winning audiographer and sound engineer on the Kerala State Movies Improvement Company, which runs 17 screens within the State. “Cinematographers and exhibitors’ associations all want to return collectively to place a system in place that may ensure that these movies, that are made with a lot effort and care, are offered to the viewers within the appropriate method.”

Bramayugam’s Jalal agrees. “Identical to they test for functioning fireplace exits and bogs and parking, they need to additionally test the projection and sound high quality of every theatre, periodically.” 

Hope and expertise

It’s not all doom and gloom, although. There are just a few exhibitors who care sufficient to hold out common upkeep of their projectors. And, there are technological advances that promise a greater future.

Whereas lamp projectors are nonetheless the huge current majority, new installations and upgrades usually tend to be laser. Laser projectors are usually not routinely higher, however there’s a essential distinction within the economics of working them.

Whereas a lamp lasts for mere months, the lifetime of a laser might be over 20,000 hours, translating to years of service earlier than any alternative is required. This implies there’s merely no have to run the projector at a decrease brightness. “The price of the laser projector [₹60 lakh-₹1 crore] is excessive, however there isn’t any recurring price. You’ll be able to preserve operating it and even after seven years, you will get the identical high quality as the primary present,” says Thulasi of Qube.

If you happen to watch a film in a theatre with a laser display, chances are high you’ll get a brighter image in comparison with different venues. It’s the usual brightness however, in contrast to the opposite venues, truly delivered. The bar is so low that this may doubtless really feel like an improve.

If you wish to take issues up a notch, there are “premium massive format” screens like IMAX Laser and Qube’s homegrown EPIQ, each of which have a handful of installations throughout the nation.

These codecs use state-of-the-art laser projectors and may goal a better brightness, which when mixed with the scale of those screens can ship a extra spectacular and immersive image.

Sanju Surendran, a filmmaker who lives within the city of Palakkad on the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border, says he typically travels to Coimbatore to look at movies at Broadway Cinemas, a multiplex that has each massive format and common screens, IMAX Laser and Qube Epiq screens. “For motion pictures like Oppenheimer and F1, I wished to see them on display, so it was price it to drive right down to Coimbatore. The projection and sound at Broadway are high class. Watching F1 at their laser IMAX, I actually felt like I used to be sitting within the race automobile,” he says.

Tejal Satish, COO of Broadway Cinemas, explains how they keep the projection customary: “Each display is often calibrated for brightness, distinction, and color accuracy. Our engineers observe strict preventive upkeep schedules, checking lenses, porthole glass, servers, and sound alignment earlier than each main launch.”

Setting new benchmarks

And eventually, on the innovative are just a few next-generation applied sciences which have made their tentative forays into India, promising a cinematic expertise with unprecedented ranges of high quality. These embrace Dolby Cinema and HDR by Barco, that are each projection-based techniques, and Samsung’s Onyx and Qube’s EPIQ Luxon, which use big LED screens as an alternative of projectors.

Whereas all of them price many instances what an everyday laser projection setup does, and their numbers are small in the meanwhile, maybe extra screens will likely be put in quickly with these applied sciences?

They promise to set a brand new benchmark for cinema viewing within the coming years.

Samsung’s Onyx was first off the mark in India in 2018 with their LED screens, however their formidable plans appear to have been stymied by the COVID-19 pandemic. Qube’s EPIQ Luxon has an analogous LED-based system, which is presently put in in a single venue in Hyderabad — AAA Cinemas in Ameerpet. For now, these screens are comparatively smaller in measurement however there may be promise of bigger installations sooner or later. That stated, LED consumes significantly extra energy and generates extra warmth (requiring extra highly effective air con), so it’s unclear if widespread adoption is probably going.

Dolby Cinema made its India debut on the Metropolis Delight Multiplex in Pune this July. Other than the higher brightness, it additionally boasts class-leading ranges of distinction, and expertly tuned Dolby Atmos sound. “It’s an elevated expertise, each by way of image and sound,” says Girish Mallya, the Mumbai-based editor of a expertise journal. He watched the Brad Pitt-starrer F1 at Metropolis Delight. “What actually stood out for me concerning the projection was the color gamut and the way deep the blacks had been,” Mallya provides.

The display is already drawing response from viewers. “One couple flew down from Bengaluru to look at F1 at our Dolby Cinema display,” says Sudhan Thipse, Operations Supervisor at Metropolis Delight.

The most recent participant on this house globally is HDR by Barco. The Belgian projector producer makes use of a patented expertise that they name “mild steering” to ship a particularly shiny picture from a projection setup, with a excessive dynamic vary.

HDR by Barco made its India debut at Sri Melody theatre in Visakhapatnam in Could, and I went to look at the Telugu movie Kingdom there. Even on a weekday morning, the theatre was packed. I sat by means of the entire present regardless of not understanding a phrase, as a result of it was really essentially the most dynamic and dazzling image I had seen in any cinema theatre. The brightest elements of the image had been dazzling, and even the darkest of shadows retained an excessive amount of element and texture.

Dasari Gowri Shankar, supervisor of Sri Melody, tells me, “Now, when any film releases within the metropolis, our display fills up first as a result of folks know that there’s something particular concerning the expertise.”

And this proper right here is cause for hope. When increasingly folks begin selecting theatres with higher projecion, even travelling to a distinct state for it, maybe that may function a wake-up name for the incumbents to enhance their choices, or danger shedding their prospects.

The author and photographer relies in Chennai.