So much time and energy is spent educating cinema professionals how to properly design cinemas, including installed sound and projection systems. We forget the best lessons typically come from our mistakes. In the 30+ years I’ve been in the cinema industry, I’ve learned a ton from THX, Dolby, the Hollywood post-production community, and the brilliant engineers … leer más
One of the subjects that we often grapple with in meetings of the International Cinema Technology Association is “how do we shape the cinema system designers, technicians, and installers of tomorrow?” It’s a tricky question! Changes in the industry have eliminated a lot of the traditional paths toward this type of work. Well, our new Cinema … leer más
If you’re looking for more ways to get Creative with Plugins, look no further than the Asset Manager feature in Q-SYS Designer Software. The Q-SYS for Cinema universe is expanding once again with a new control plugin for Barco Series 1 and 2 Digital Cinema Projectors. Now, two of the leading digital cinema projector manufacturers are … leer más
QSC’s SC-444 Screen Channel Loudspeaker System Ever since it was first introduced over 14 years ago, no other screen channel loudspeaker has come close to matching the performance and utility of QSC’s SC-444 Screen Channel Loudspeaker system. It was, and is still, simply the best large room cinema system available. From top to bottom, here … leer más
Technology Convergence Brings New Opportunities Q: When is a movie theatre not a movie theatre? A: When the content appears to be feature film or custom created content, but you don’t smell popcorn as you walk in, and you didn’t have to buy a ticket. The venue might be a high school or college auditorium, … leer más
How the Beatles influenced my line of work Did you ever wonder how a loudspeaker works? So did I, at a very young age – but I was more interested in understanding the electric guitar after seeing the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan show. It turns out the two operate on very similar (yet opposite) … leer más
It’s been a busy few weeks at QSC, with the announcement of two major new developments that further solidify the expanding role of Q-SYS in movie theatres. You may remember that early on in the journey of Q-SYS for Cinema, we were saying “If it can be controlled, it can be controlled by Q-SYS.” There … leer más
If you haven’t noticed, QSC has been slowly changing the paradigm of cinema sound. This past week, another milestone was reached with the introduction of two new Q-SYS Core processors, expanding the Q-SYS Ecosystem both as a product line and as a practical application scenario throughout the modern cinema complex – and beyond. Over 20 … leer más
We’re only beginning to come to terms with the fundamental changes in many industries in the wake of the global COVID-19 pandemic. While no one can accurately predict the future, one thing is for certain: the cinema exhibition industry will be anything BUT a return to “business as usual”. The pandemic is not the only … leer más
No one knows exactly what the “new normal” of cinema exhibition will look like. First, let’s get this out of the way: Coronavirus will not kill the global cinema exhibition industry. Changes are for certain, but cinema is here to stay. As has already been said by many industry observers – cinema has survived the … leer más
In some ways, sound waves are like light waves. They radiate into space, reflect off objects, and lose energy upon contact with absorptive surfaces, walls, and with distance from their source. Sound waves can be more challenging to control, primarily because we can’t see them. Low frequencies are especially difficult because their long wavelengths (up … leer más
In 1992, Syn-Aud-Con co-founder and audio industry legend Don Davis wrote an article (which later became a book) titled, “If Bad Sound Were Fatal, Audio Would Be the Leading Cause of Death.” While it hasn’t killed me yet, I’ve certainly been hurt more than once in public spaces, where it was evident that proper attention … leer más
One of the hallmarks of QSC products is the concept of the total system design. Simply put, a system of a prescribed set of components that were designed to work together will always outperform a disparate set of components. This is the idea behind QSC’s “SystemSynergy,” any QSC powered loudspeaker, and any system configuration recommendation … leer más
Take advantage of free acoustical power: always place subwoofers on the floor behind the screen – NOT on a platform with the screen loudspeakers. Floor-positioned subwoofers take advantage of “half-space” loading, which increases radiated power by about 3 dB, WITHOUT adding any extra amplifier power. Even better: place the subwoofers on the floor AND push … leer más
It may look like any old VGA video connector, but it’s not. DCA and ISA Series amplifiers and DCP, DCM, and DXP processors use a special QSC connection interface called DataPort, which enables DSP crossovers, speaker-specific EQ, and monitoring and control of amplifier and loudspeaker functions on a single cable. Although many off-the-shelf VGA cables … leer más
The mid-high frequency section of most 3- and 4-way QSC screen channel loudspeakers has a pre-set downward tilt. When it is properly elevated to approximately 5/8 image height behind the screen and aimed to the last row in a typical stadium-style cinema, there is no need for additional downward tilt. This allows you to minimize … leer más
All QSC SR Series surround loudspeakers feature Axisymmetric coverage. That means that sound is distributed evenly on all axes within the loudspeaker’s defined coverage angle. Unlike many conventional loudspeakers, there is no vertical and horizontal coverage pattern, so aiming is made much simpler. Up/down tilt and side-to-side “pan” aiming is all that is needed to … leer más