People who frequently watch movies at theaters and have explored various film formats know the difference between the Dolby Cinema and standard. Even if you have always watched movies at regular theaters, it is highly recommended to explore different film formats like Dolby Cinema and IMAX.
Most moviegoers may refuse to see movies at Dolby Cinema due to the high ticket price. Considering the visuals and audio quality, you will be getting value for money. Most people prefer Dolby Cinema over IMAX, standard, and other formats.
After the ultimate Dolby Cinema vs Standard showdown, it would be easier for you to determine which film format is worth the time and money.
Dolby Cinema Vs Standard
The main difference between the standard and Dolby Cinema is the projection method as Dolby uses a laser while the standard uses light. In addition, they also differ from each other with respect to projector count, image resolution, sound system, ticket pricing, and other aspects.
Considering what you pay, a Standard movie theater offers a typical experience, displaying great pictures and loud sound. In comparison to Dolby Cinema and other film formats, Standard Theater lacks in many areas, that’s why movie buffs express their preferences for Dolby Cinema.
Dolby Cinema
Dolby Cinema offers a premium, transformative experience by making the audience connect with the story and its characters. It allows the viewer to step into the story while seated in reversible recliners with a perfect viewing angle.
With the ultimate combo of Dolby Vision picture and Dolby Atmos sound technology, the viewer is guaranteed nothing short of a magical experience. Dolby Vision ensures deeper contrast, vibrant images, and more details.
As for Dolby Atmos, powerful speakers are installed in the auditoriums to produce audio from all directions for an immersive experience.
Standard Cinema
These conventional theaters are available in most cities as well as rural and underdeveloped areas.
Standard theaters have been around for the longest time, however, with the rise in competition and technology, these theaters have evolved as well.
Perfect for viewing 2D movies at a nominal ticket price. Also, standard theaters do not have much to offer in terms of architecture and luxurious environments. Screens are not supermassive, instead, plain and straight with limited resolution and pixels.
Difference Between Dolby Cinema and Standard
Here, we discuss the difference between the standard and Dolby Cinema in detail
Projection Type
Starting the list of differences with a major one, both film formats differ from each other in terms of projection method.
Dolby Cinema uses laser projection to project brighter, more contrast-y, and vivid images on the screen. Moreover, the color accuracy is commendable, introducing viewers to new and authentic colors with a wider color gamut.
Comparably, standard uses light projection to project an image with limited pixels. To clarify, the image quality is not insufferable, instead, pretty good. However, it is not as vivid and lifelike as the Dolby Cinema projection.
Number of Projectors
Once again, Dolby Cinema takes the lead here as it uses dual laser projectors to promote heightened realism. With a dual projection setup, Dolby Cinema immerses viewers in deep, fully contrasted images.
Contrastingly, the standard theater uses light projectors with varying resolutions, some theaters have 1080p resolution while others have 4K resolution. Light projectors have poor image resolution and contrast as compared to laser projectors. Also, these traditional theaters are not outfitted with advanced technologies to enhance the images.
Projector Resolution
Each projector has a native 4K resolution to bring the image to life and does not make it appear washed out. These two laser projectors combine to provide a crisp image with every little detail. On the whole, Dolby Cinema has four times higher resolution than the normal movie theater.
As mentioned earlier, only a few standard movie theaters project images in native 4K while others display movies in 1080p FHD. The image resolution of the light projector varies from theater to theater.
Technologies
Dolby Vision technology ensures ultra-vivid colors, deeper contrasts, and richer details to make the movie fanatics come back for more.
Dolby Vision optimizes the image quality for dark night shots and bright sunlight scenes. It brings the image to life making the audience connect with the emotional, high-impact scenes for an immersive ongoing experience.
On the other hand, standard theaters are not equipped with advanced technology like Dolby Vision. It relies on the light projector and its integrated technologies for image projection.
Sound
It is hard to beat the audio quality produced by the Dolby Atmos system. It utilizes object-based audio to produce clear, crisp, and realistic sound. Speakers are installed in the auditorium as per the design and shape of the theater.
These powerful speakers are installed behind the projection screen and on the ceilings, walls, and floor. This surround system is advanced and split the sound to make the audience members hear every beat no matter where they are sitting.
HDR
Dolby Cinema projects images with extraordinary brightness and contrast thanks to the High Dynamic Range (HDR). It displays an image with 500x the contrast and 2x the brightness of a standard format.
The standard theater usually lacks such technologies as HDR, HLG, and others, therefore, often fail to project the brightest whites and darkest blacks.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Dolby Cinema Better?
Dolby Cinema promises a special experience with better audio-visual quality and aspect ratio. It edges out IMAX slightly and standard theater with over-the-top image resolution, Dolby Atmos sound system, and dual laser projection setup.
Is Dolby Cinema Bigger than Standard?
Yes, Dolby cinema is substantially better than standard theater in all aspects, except for one, ticket pricing. Given the audio, visual quality, and seating arrangements, the expensive ticket price is worth the magical experience it guarantees. It utilizes laser projection and ensures better contrast and brightness than standard.
Conclusion
It is hard to keep up with the new formats and cinema technologies, therefore, we urge you to see a movie at Dolby Cinema at least once to witness what a cutting-edge moviegoing experience feels like.
Cian has 7 years of experience in the musical instruments industry. His press and research articles are published in many well-known journals. Cian is part of our product testing team so he knows the criteria for the best products. Here at sound keen cian covers how to set up instruments and selection criteria for new products.