Cinemark Egyptian 24 and XD

Forgive me, it seems I overlooked the fact about the glasses darkening the image in my last comment. I also saw ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ twice: in Cinemark XD and digital IMAX and the XD presentation was brighter and fine details in the picture were more apparent.

As Giles said, the increased brightness is most noticeable without the glasses on. After seeing ‘Twilight New Moon’ and ‘Iron Man 2’ in XD 2D, the picture is definitely brighter and more detailed than standard presentations.

Do you think its a fair assessment that 3D films, in general, are darker, then your usual flat films?

I think so. I always thought the CGI movies like your Pixar movies were always ‘brighter’ especially in DP. When they go the 3D route, like Shrek 4 was, it was noticeably darker. Yes, I know the movie had ‘night scenes’ but there was still that CG crispness that made you notice things better.

This past weekend, I saw Despicable Me in XD 3D with some friends. The 3D aspect in this film was more noticeable than Toy Story 3, though it was not nearly as gimmicky as the Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D remake. The movie itself doesn’t live up to the high Pixar standards of Toy Story 3 but was better than most animated films and I would still recommend seeing it.

As always, the sound and projection quality was superior. However, as Jodar mentioned, the projection does not seem to be as bright — when I saw Twilight New Moon last year and How to Train Your Dragon 3D earlier this year, those films seemed brighter than my recent 3D viewings of Toy Story 3 and Despicable Me.

they don’t

I agree that’s a major deterent, AMC’s IMAX-Digital prices first show of the day before noon are $9

Auditoriums #6 and #13 now have digital projection. Auditorium #13 has RealD 3D and is showing Toy Story 3 in 3D, not sure about #6 though. I saw “The Karate Kid” in #6, which had better surround effects but a lower sound level than previous 35 mm viewings. I previously saw “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time” (35 mm) in the same auditorium and the sound level was much higher.

And yes, the theater has switched to Cinemark-style ticket taking, meaning the main area of the theater is open (consisting mostly of the concession area, though the arcade room is also open to the public now). Each of the hallways leading to the auditoriums has a ticket taker. I also experienced this at the Century San Francisco Centre 9, which is also run by Cinemark.

My cousins and I saw Toy Story 3 in XD 3D and paid $14.50 each for the privilege :P

This is my first experience with XD and so it seems that it is Cinemark’s IMAX-lite competitor. #12 seems smaller than 11 though the screen seems to take up more vertical space. I appreciate the sharpness of the digital picture but again, it seems ‘darker’ than the regular flat screen digital projections that I enjoy.

The seats are comfortable and I enjoy the movable armrests. Being tall, I would prefer more leg room. Since I was with others, who prefer to sit higher up away from the screen, I had to satisfy myself with the fact that I would not be able to stretch my legs during the movie. Unfortunately, for the young girl in front of me, I found myself accidentally kicking her seat when shifting positions.

The XD trailer doesn’t have the CGI crispness of the IMAX-lite trailer. I prefer the IMAX’s H U G E lettering and coming-at-ya countdown style and the technical aspect of the 12K watts of sound. The XD trailer sound mix doesn’t show off the auditorium’s potential the way the THX ‘Life’ trailer does with the subwoofer booms.

The soundtrack was rich though I’m at a loss to explain this 7th channel. Part of the film’s soundtrack mix could be heard mid level, up high, especially at the end during the credits, where the front screen vocals can be heart miliseconds ahead of the sound coming from the mid-theater level speakers.

In my later years, I have tried not to read reviews of films I really want to see so as to not be jaded or swayed by their opinion. Unfortunately, I could not help but listen to Ann Hornaday’s opinion, on the radio in rush hour, about this movie and her comment about the technical aspect (IMAX treatment) of the movie not being special. To be blunt, I have to agree. There were no aha moments or really special visual tricks that work well in the XD format of this film.

The trailers for Despicable Me and the Disney Rapunzel movie look okay. December’s Narnia sequel looks more exciting and will hopefully make better use of the IMAX-lite treatment.

Customer service wise this place is just as bad as any Regal or AMC. No greetings by the barely alive ticket takers. The restrooms were atrocious. I realize it was a busy Sat night, but how much time does it take for two guys to run a mop throughout the mens room? I felt like I was at the National Zoo large animal exhibit on a hot 90º muggy day with no air circulation.

the 3D wasn’t that great, nor the whole color scheme of the movie but it was the soundmix of ‘Clash of the Titans’ on the XD screen that took center stage… again. The music score was unmemorable but the sound effects had a tremendous amount of auditory power. Notably during the end Kraken destruction scene and inside Medusa’s lair.

I saw Alice in Wonderland in the XD auditorium (#12) this weekend. The size and seating layout of the auditorium is similar to the adjacent auditorium (#11), so the seat count should be roughly the same. The seating capacity sign was removed after the conversion to XD due to the installation of new seats. I sat a few rows from the center aisle this time, so I was able to see the entire screen. The screen takes up the majority of a patron’s field of vision, even towards the rear of the auditorium. It is noticeably larger than the digital IMAX at Columbia (both height and width wise) and the sound system is equally bigger in terms of bass output. You will definitely notice a difference when the pre-show ends and the previews/trailers start. The bass was most noticable during the Tron Legacy trailer, when the auditorium received a nice shaking throughout the trailer. There were also some scenes in Alice when the bass made its presence known.

I also noticed that digital artifacts such as motion blur and ghosting were more subtle and much less frequent than digital IMAX. The picture was not dark as most other RealD 3D presentations I’ve seen. It was just as bright and vivid as digital IMAX. The picture of Alice in Wonderland filled the majority of the screen, with thin vertical masking lines on the side edges of the screen (similar to Avatar in digital IMAX).

Cinemark has a trailer for XD, which is shown before the movie starts. The Disney Digital 3D trailer was also shown after the XD trailer since this particular film is distributed by Disney and presented in 3D.

Giles, according to Cinemark’s press releases regarding XD, all XD auditoriums use a Barco DP-3000 DLP 2K projector. All XD auditoriums also have plush leather seating and custom JBL sound systems with at least 30 speakers.

One last side note: the area behind the information/customer service counter is walled off on both sides due to renovations of the concession stand. An area of the right side of the concession stand was open but I did not visit that area since the XD auditorium is on the left side of the building.

question what is the aspect ratio of ‘Avatar’ on the XD screen, some have noted it’s similiar to IMAX’s 1.78:1

what is the dimension of the XD screen anyway?

is XD 2K digital projection or 4K?

Some other chains have the same matinee cut off time but I sure hope you didn’t pay $8.50 for a hotdog, JodarMovieFan!

I noticed that the theater description has been updated with the XD (Extreme Digital Cinema) auditorium. Auditorium 11 is also digital projection (DLP) and should be added along with auditoriums 7 and 18. All four digital auditoriums are capable of showing RealD 3D.

Cinemark Press Release for Cinemark XD: Cinemark News Release at EarthTimes

I saw The Twilight Saga: New Moon in the Cinemark XD auditorium this weekend.

Auditorium 12 was completely redesigned to be distinguishable from the other auditoriums within the theater. Like most IMAX MPX systems, the auditorium features a ceiling to floor, wall to wall screen. However, the screen is noticeably larger than most IMAX MPX screens (at least compared the local IMAX MPX Digital theaters) as it appeared to fill more of my field of view from the center of the auditorium, which I thought was more immersive. The picture is masked but does fill the width of the screen. The picture quality is similar to any DP system though on a larger screen. What I thought stood out about XD was the sound system – i.e. feeling the rumble of the bass during the action scenes.

Other aspects of the auditorium were also changed. The red seats were replaced with new black leather seats, the walls have new lighting fixtures and red curtains. XD signs have also been added to the outside of the theater and the XD auditorium entrance.

XD pricing is not based on surcharges (like AMC’s 3D and IMAX surcharges) but fixed XD admission that applies throughout the day – similar to Regal’s IMAX admission, except Regal doesn’t charge extra for 3D. Also, like Regal’s IMAX admission, Cinemark’s XD prices differ by theater. In comparison, AMC has fixed surcharges for Digital 3D and IMAX, which adds on to the applicable AMC admission price (A.M. Cinema, Matinee, Evening, Child, Senior, etc.). Like Regal, AMC does not charge extra for IMAX 3D.

Good digital presentation of 2012 in auditorium #11 over the weekend. The screen in #11 has side masking, which expanded the screen width to match the film’s aspect ratio after the NCM FirstLook pre-show.

Large-format Cinemark XD is in auditorium #12 and has not yet opened.