If you want to see Avatar: the way of the water as it is meant to be seen, you have to go to a Dolby Cinema. Those are currently the only places that can show the movie in all its 48fps HFR, 3D, 4K, Dolby Vision, and Dolby Atmos glory. Flat panelsHD (opens in new tab) reports.
And that’s exactly how director James Cameron wants it. The Titanic mate is known as a fan of big screens – in 2010 he described watching a movie on the iPhone as “silly”. And he has developed such a combination of technology that is only available in certain cinemas.
But wait a minute, there’s a catch. While Dolby Cinema is Dolby Vision certified, it’s not technically HDR. HDR stands for High Dynamic Range – it creates a greater difference between the light and dark areas of the image, with more gradual steps between them, resulting in more contrast and a more realistic image. But Dolby Cinema uses something called EDR (Enhanced Dynamic Range), which isn’t quite the same thing.
The film will also use a clever hack to save cinemas from having to upgrade their projection equipment. While more visually impressive scenes are rendered at 48fps, more mundane scenes (like people talking) stay at 24fps. If everything was at 48fps, Cameron claims, it would “create a kind of hyper-realism in more mundane scenes.”
Movie theaters don’t have to figure out a way to vary the frame rate, they just show it in 48 fps. But for those mundane scenes that Cameron talks about, they show the same frame twice to slow it down to 24fps. But this is apparently invisible to the naked eye, so the viewer will be none the wiser. Smart.
Of course, not every cinema is equipped to show Avatar: the way of the water with all this technology. IMAX’s more advanced screens show it in 48fps HFR, 3D and 4K (without HDR or EDR). Less advanced IMAX screens show it in 3D 2K at 48 fps HFR or 3D 2K at 24 fps. And your more standard multiplex will display it in 3D HFR or in standard 3D or 2D without HFR (24 fps).
Avatar: the way of the water appears on December 16. Disney has yet to reveal any home release details.
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