Відео

Sadly this has now been changed and ruined to an imax screen I recommend watching the bored_tech video on it

The 1962 auditorium had 1330 seats, the IMAX has 723 seats, so slightly more than half. The IMAX seating uses the circle of the 1962 auditorium, albeit with one row added at the back, and another just in front. The new seating is slightly wider (but now there are 3 aisles rather than 5.) Photos and videos of the 1962 auditorium don't do it justice, it was a magical and unique environment. Unfortunately, modernisation was long overdue...

@@CF-uh2xl I understand that modernisation is the new norm but that cinema was perfect the way it was, man. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

@@CometMedalChavez New norm? Well, not quite.. the original Empire Theatre dates from 1884, and is claimed to have been the first location in the UK where moving pictures were first exhibited to a paying audience (1896.) In 1927, the auditorium building was demolished for a 3330 seat cinema built on an extended site. In 1957, for a long run 70mm presentation of Ben-Hur, a new screen was added in front of the proscenium and the rear stalls used for a new projection booth. In 1962, there was a complete internal reconstruction forming a new auditorium at circle balcony level, seating 1330. The former stalls level was no longer part of the cinema, and is now operating as a Casino. What was "wrong" with The Empire's 1962 auditorium? Technically, poor acoustics (severe slap echo which made it hard to follow dialogue in today's movies.) The overarching problem, of course, was commericality: 1330 seats hardly filling. What to do? A good example of "modernisation" is the IMAX conversion of the Chinese Theatre. This involved excavating down to basement level to for new steeper (stadium-style) steppings for the seating, and to gain height for the taller IMAX screen. (The proscenium had been altered decades ago, sufficiently wide for a ~90ft. screen.) Hence, this allowed for retention of the original plasterwork, etc. Obviously, not an option for The Empire's IMAX conversion, with the Casino operating just below... Most of these "classic" venues have been lost altogether. If not, significant sums can be involved just to keep them intact: for example, in 2015, the Odeon Leicester Square, had its roof completely replaced. For its 2018 refurbishment, strip out and enabling works cost £1.8m ($2.32m), including substantial asbestos removal. The overall project was slated to cost into 8 figures. Note the reduction in seating capacity of the main auditoria at these three examples of iconic venues, at which numerous premieres are hosted, to under 1000.

It's actually a Compton, and the only 5 manual cinema organ they built. Comptons were a british pipe organ manufacturer. Wurlitzers were the American counterpart.

@@OrganMusicYT Oh, my bad.

I am afraid they are only Dolby trailers, nothing else was shown

Hi, just asked the protectionist, the minus 3db point is 20Hz

@@gaumontkalee21 But what is the frequency response of the sub bass (20-?hz) and is it set +10db ? than the full range?

As all as I can say is a home sub bass system might go down to 30hz , but the IMAX sub bass unit is almost the size of a small car and can go much lower bass of 20hz which produces much more building shaking bass , frequency response is not really mentioned only it's lowest point, because that gives the effect

@@gaumontkalee21 Ask the projectionist what is the crossover frequency (hz) used for IMAX bass management ?

The main problem with the adjustments of both sound and vision of IMAX is, it's done by a IMAX engineer, so they know the finer details of the system

Sony talk about that sort of technology, but whether if ever appears, we will see , one day

@@gaumontkalee21 imax is over rated. just wait till good high resolution cameras get cheaper and digital storage solutions as well. once that happens, imax will finally die and so will its old ass film format. "0mFg My MoVie Is On ImAx FiLm Im So Much BeTtEr Than EvErTYoNe BeCaUsE iM aS pReTeNcIoUs As A mAc UsEr WhO oNly cUmS fOr BrAnDs I fAnBoY oVeR lIkE a FuCkInG zOmBiE". xD

@@gaumontkalee21 With all the excitement and corporate push for Virtual Reality, I really hope the industry does not neglect to continue pushing forward with very big screens, for group viewing. There's just something very special about watching with people, instead of watching alone, even if those people are sitting right next to you, if everyone is wearing a VR headset, it will lose the 'something special' for viewing with other people.

That’s like drinking whiskey from a milk carton. Why would you.

Hey bro Im an Hyderabadi too But Prasads was an 15/70MM Theatre not Laser.

Thanks

yea true. and sadly they remind and scare the Audienence serval Times to not record. Little exaggerated in my Eyes, some Seconds really could show and fascinate the Viewers how massive and big the Image is. But ok, they take the rules very serious. Maybe it would disturbing on Videos too because you have to be aware to shoot in 24fps which most would forget to do ...

There's also a 15/70 GT in Manchester fyi

As far as I know, the owners want to reinstate the restaurant to be part of the cinema and restore the ticket kiosk and retain the original entrance doors, certainly no tube station as Green Park tube station is not far away

@@gaumontkalee21 Ah - I thought it was going to be part of the proposed Chelsea/Hackney line(Crossrail 2) plans.

Still cannot see any thing about crossrail 2 going near it. Main problem was the cinema reaching a agreement over the new lease with the landlord

A 70mm print, takes up about, half of the screen, with a good size, blank screen top and bottom

Here is a more technical answer, I just asked the protectionist who works there , the IMAX screen is 26m wide and regular 70mm is shown 18m wide

Hi , yes I do , its about seven minutes long, and I can put it on UA-cam, as I am very busy with work, it would probably go on UA-cam over the weekend

It's on UA-cam, as Ipswich Regent Theatre, July 2003 , no editing just as filmed, enjoy

The sound system was all Dolby. The main processor was a CP200, it was fully 70mm equipped and had a external Dolby spectral sound adaptor for 35mm films with that system, also some 70mm films used spectral noise reduction, rather than A type Dolby . Also making its first appearance is a Dolby Digital adapter, with reader head on top of the first projector. Dolby Digital was for 35mm films and killed off 70mm blow up prints very soon after. I saw Back to the Future at the Empire in 1985 and it was a 70mm blow up done for the better sound . Also in the sound system was a THX adapter. I am not sure of the number of speakers, various pictures have been issued in the past. But they floor to ceiling and there were five channels behind the screen. Left , right, centre, left extra and right extra. Hope this helps, I must admit I have never worked in the cinema business, it's a hobby

Thanks, I have two more videos of it ,one from 1992 and then as a lmax screen with laser protection in 2016

@@gaumontkalee21 Thanks

Thanks for info , also originally the print was a magnetic one, but that had some odd noises on its sound track, so was swapped for the DTS one

I had to cut the end off because the background music started and the video would have been blocked because of copy right on the music

@@gaumontkalee21 Aww..never mind....it's that I haven't experienced tabs for years..although my local independent has them but no swish and glide really lol!! ( Parkway Cleethorpes) Our now closed ABC Grimsby did of course right up to 2004 ..and I understand the Trocadero Everyman does have tabs in some screens? :)

The Empire was rebuilt in 1927 for MGM with the auditorium block rebuilt/extended to form a 3,300 seat screen, then substantially altered in 1962 to form a 1,330 seat cinema, the auditorium/main foyer of which is/was suspended over the original stalls level, which today is occupied by a Casino. The 1962 auditorium was effectively a new cinema built within the shell of the building. In fact, its circle is less steep than the 1927 one and the projection booth is, I think, about at the level of the rear of the original circle. As we’ll see, this is not a moot point! Under Empire Cinemas, as you say, the Empire could struggle with getting major titles booked, with the Odeon Leicester Square apparently “first choice” (pun intended)-but it wasn’t bereft of them-the last two films I saw in Empire 1 were “Life of Pi” and “Star Trek into Darkness.” Nevertheless, apparently Empire 1 was loss-making, with high maintenance and operating costs. However, into the 2010’s, the OLS wasn’t filling, either. It wasn’t until after Cineworld acquired the Empire (2016) that exclusivity ended-but a refurbishment of the OLS was already due, most recently delayed pending the acquisition of Odeon Cinemas Group by AMC-it finally happened in 2018. It seems likely that IMAX were eager to have a Leicester Square presence. I can’t see how an IMAX conversion of the OLS would have been possible; the Vue West End certainly wasn't. However, recalling that the 1962 Empire was built “within” the 1927 auditorium, which had a dome in the middle of its ceiling, there was just about enough void space at the roof apex to raise the ceiling (substantially) up for a 1.9:1 IMAX screen of almost 90ft. width. You can see the roof structure is “boxed out” at the top of the sidewalls either side of the screen! By some odd accident of history, the 1962 circle stepping then married with this, yielding an auditorium geometry per classic IMAX specifications, with the audience positioned as it should be in relation to the screen size/location. (Except for the front side seats, but these are unavailable for IMAX performances.) There were lots of problems with the old Empire 1 that I can think of other than capacity-the acoustics were dire with a terrible slap echo that made it very difficult to follow fast dialogue in busy scenes of today’s titles. Flat raked stalls. No cupholders in low-backed seats (yes, they were lovely, but…) Competition includes the two Vue Westfield sites (Xtreme screens) and the Cineworld O2 (Superscreen), among many other new(er)/renovated multiplexes. And so on-whichever way you want to look at it, “do nothing” wasn’t an option for either Empire 1 nor presumably the OLS. There are only so many schemes that work commercially and practically within the constraints of the premises-both were multi-million pound renovations. This is not to say that I, like many others, would not have dearly loved for Empire 1 to have been kept as it was-it was my favourite auditorium. Realistically, I’m glad that there is still a cinema there, that the conversion included acknowledgment to the heritage, and the scheme was extremely ambitious (with the building pushed to the limit), rather than a poor quality subdivision… N.B. The IMAX with Laser GT dual projection installed is the Rolls Royce of digital projection, with an expensive optical path which eliminates the prism that compromises performance in all of the competition.

Tbf I heard Empire screen is better than Odeon next to it as well.