Ah... this is how the movie was supposed to look and sound. Glad I showed up! The terrible presentation at the AMC a while back was still in my mind, but seeing the film again at a proper cinema restored my faith in the T-franchise.
The picture and sound quality in this cinema were up to their usual high standards - bright picture with sharp edges, no scratches or other artifacting, and flawless sound with deep bass and plenty of punch all around. More than enough to give anyone a hearty recommendation to try the Galaxy Highland 10.
There was an interesting development I will have to report on in a future post - a big sign on the outside wall of the cinema stated the Galaxy Highland 10 was offering "D-BOX" bass management in this auditorium (and I think, the only place in Austin to do so).
What is DBOX/How does it work? It's basically a financially-efficient way to add more bass to your sonic experience. The conventional way would be to add larger subwoofers to the array behind the screen. In order to feel the bass at your seating position, the speakers back there need to be really loud, of course, and this requires more powerful amplifiers and a bigger electric bill. Unfortunately this is usually heard in the next auditorium, so you also need thicker walls. Cinema owners don't like to pay for that stuff. DBOX is a new solution that puts a small, but deep subwoofer into each seat! This actually saves on sonic energy since the speaker only needs to vibrate your chair... so it's not felt in the next auditorium, or shaking the place to bits. This is a much more efficient use of energy. There is an installation cost to bear, since regular $50 cinema chairs can't be used.
I asked the ticket counter person about the DBOX process and they responded "its $15 a ticket and assigned seating." That made me wince and I didn't go for it... just got a regular ticket. (In retrospect, I regret this... I'm Mr. Austin CinemaCritic!!!) A kiosk w/ small projection TV was sitting in the foyer next to the Terminator: Salvation doorway, and a few patrons were standing around watching the punters in the demonstration seats. Honestly it sounded pretty darn muddy to me, but I didn't actually sit in the demo seats. Inside the auditorium, the DBOX subwoofers were not in all seats of the theater, just a band of rows in the middle. The cinema was about 1/3rd full, and the DBOX seats were almost all occupied, so the new system was definitely finding a connection with patrons.
I think I noticed my first pixelisation on this 2K digital projector - it was the trailer for Bruno, whose titles were not anti-aliased. The pixels were nice and sharp, indicating, at least, that the projector was correctly focused. All the other titles in this show were anti-aliased so it was impossible to see pixels.
The DBOX seats still had an effect on the screening, IMO. I felt like there was generally a lot more bass and rumble in the auditorium than usual.
I am sure I will try the DBOX experience next time... stay tuned. Kudos to the Galaxy theater chain for trying out this new system. (along with digital projection and great sound!)
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