Think your home theater is truly immersive? Think again. The next advance in movie watching may be a four-sided screen with the ceiling functioning as a fourth panel.
In the 1950s, movie theaters fought back against the popularity of television with a push for color, widescreen, stereo sound, and 3D. We have a similar situation today with IMAX theaters, extreme multi-channel audio, lounge-like seats, and up-scale food.
The latest salvo in the ongoing struggle to pull you away from your home TV comes from CJ 4DPLEX, a leading cinema technology company. On Monday at the CES tradeshow, CJ 4DPLEX announced its first four-sided 4DX screen.
According to CJ 4DPLEX , the 4DX Screen is the first of its kind in the world of cinema. The sidewalls of the auditorium are curved to a trapezoidal shape, diminishing image distortion to provide a more comfortable and seamless panoramic viewing experience. On top of the unique trapezoidal screen structure is the ceiling screen that covers the remaining unused space of the auditorium. Facing the enveloped screen space are state-of-the-art 4DX motion chairs. With up to 10 times wider range of motion than the previous model, the latest 4DX model has large-sway and wide-pitch mechanisms, offering a smoother riding experience.
The company also introduced a new ultra-wide zoom lens. It can reduce projection distance by 70 percent compared to a standard projection lens with a throw ratio of 1.8. This custom lens for digital cinema projection has a throw ratio of 0.55 to 0.7, which means the projector can be placed closer upfront. Alternatively, the screen size can be up to three times larger for a fixed auditorium size. That could provide flexibility for auditorium design and increase the efficiency of preexisting spaces.