ARTICLE
Shaw Theatres brings you closer to the world’s most immersive movie experience
By InCinemas / 30 Mar 2011 (Wednesday)
Shaw Theatres brings you a step closer to the world’s most immersive movie experience – 3-storey high IMAX screen installed at Shaw Theatres Lido.
Singapore, 29 March 2011 – Singapore's first and only IMAX featuring digital technology has finally arrived at Shaw Theatres Lido, marking a significant milestone in the local cinematic history. The IMAX screen was unpacked, raised, stretched and installed yesterday in a customised theatre built to meet requirements necessary to deliver The IMAX Experience.
Virtually all aspects of the IMAX's Digital Theatre System have been customised to deliver The IMAX Experience – from the design of the cinema hall to the projectors, speakers, screen and even the port hole glass, to the creation of movie content. Every aspect is carefully looked into to give the movie audience the most immersive experience possible.
IMAX’s proprietary high-gain screen results in exceptionally bright images and unparalleled 3D effect. The IMAX screen is slightly curved and sits closer to the audience, creating a larger effective screen, which is equivalent to a 20% to 230% increased in screen area.
It was a delicate process to install the 170kg 3-storey high IMAX screen as it cannot be bent, to avoid any kink or scratch, so that a complete The IMAX Experience can be realised.
The screen was hoisted through an opening made in the curved facade of the Shaw House earlier in the week. It was packed in a 10m long crate, weighing a total of 454kg, and hoisted up 5 storeys to Shaw Theatres Lido. When installed, the 19m (width) by 9.5m (height) screen effectively fills from floor to ceiling and wall to wall.
Mr Mark Shaw, Executive Vice President of Operations, said: “IMAX’s customised theatre geometry maximises your field of vision and the high-gain screen works with the projection system to bring you brighter and sharper images. It produces a more immersive 3D experience. Once you go through The IMAX Experience, you will crave for more!”
The installation of the entire IMAX hall will take at least another 11 days. This will be followed by a series of tuning and testing. Closed for renovation since October 2010, the new Shaw Theatres Lido will feature 10 regular cinema halls and Singapore’s first IMAX hall to feature digital technology. It is slated for opening in mid-May 2011 with IMAX. IMAX is in an exclusive partnership with Shaw Theatres to offer IMAX’s Digital Theatre System.
Caption: IMAX screen being unpacked from 10m long crate in the customised theatre at Shaw Theatres Lido.
Caption: The Shaw Theatres Lido IMAX screen in the process of being raised.
Caption: It was a successful installation of the Shaw Theatres IMAX screen, which took 5 weeks to be shipped to Singapore from Canada. The entire process took 15 men and over 2 hours to complete.