THX Certified Cinemark XD Theaters

I read last year on the THX website that Cinemark was getting THX to certify their premium XD theaters. Has anyone heard the results yet? I'm going to the one closest to me to check it out next week (Spielberg's Ready Player One). Cinemark does not advertise this development on their website, but they are listed on the THX Certified Theaters link.

Cinemark Partners with THX to Certify XD Auditoriums - THX

 

My local Cinemark manager claimed that his theater had already been evaluated when Blade Runner 2049 debuted. He blamed the mandatory THX playback levels for the rattling HVAC system. I've seen Guardians 2 and Incredibles 2 in that XD theater and the good news is the rattles were eliminated, but no THX plaques have appeared.

 

The rattles must've appeared after the certification, 'cause that's a big no-no. The THX Certification is very clear about HVAC systems being kept below 30 dB background noise, and eliminating rattles anywhere in the system or theater are a big area of concentration. But, that is funny it happened.
I've also noticed no mention of the THX Certification at Cinemark. I know they've done their rooms in the past, so maybe they feel it's business as usual. I'm just glad a theater chain is willing to go to those lengths for certification. The Cinemark XD theater is the only chain where I've physically felt the bass pressure in the room like the old days.

 

Really like watching movies in Cinemark XD.

Don't care if it's THX or not.

Last few IMAX movies I've seen were too loud.

 

The bass notes in Interstellar punched me in the gut at the AMC Dolby Cinema in Burbank when we saw it there. It was a bit much, to tell you the truth.

 

I was pining for for a local AMC Prime / Dolby Cinema In The Philadelphia Market. I previously drove to north New Jersey or took the bus to Nee York with my children.

The nearest Dolby Cinema is now only 45 minutes away and a $5 toll. Cinemark XD has much cheaper tickets and is much closer. The biggest disappointment with the XD was experience has been the content. The movies weren’t that great.

 

I've been to an AMC Dolby Cinema in suburban Maryland, and was not impressed with the sound. The theater was lovely, and the projected image was great. Probably an issue of a lower budget in that area, maybe.

 

I like that, I still remember the chest punching bass at the beginning of Stargate when they were lifting the gate from the ground, or the start of Independence Day when the mother ship comes from behind. I seldom hear that anymore, it's either a dull and boring soundtrack or a mess of sounds. I really miss how they mixed movies in the 90's on the early days of Dolby Digital and DTS, and worst of all, many of those audio tracks have been remixed for home enviroment loosing much of their quality.

 

After the 20th time in Interstellar, I had pretty much had enough.

 

I got this with Interstellar at home with the UHD BD version not at the cinema as Spanish dubbed mixes use to sound dreadful. I don't know if it the equipment they use here in Spain that is ancient or Spanish mixing engineers that don't have a clue about how to make a proper mix. I think it's a mix of the two.

 

Man, if they can't get it right in the town where so many of their own collegues live and work, what's the point.

 

All this reminded me of seeing/hearing Midway in 1976 at The Senator Theater in Baltimore in Sensurround. The large horn loaded bass bins in the back of the theater would come alive during the airplane and battle scenes, and practically blow you out of your seat.

 

I took my children to see the early bird screening of Ford v Ferrari on my local XD screen. The THX plaque has been installed. I don’t recall seeing it at the Joker movie a few weeks back.

PS; The Dolby Cinema experience has arrived in Center City Philadelphia, specifically the old Gallery, aka Fashion District. Dr Sleep looked and sounded dandy, but the $10 earlybird shows will keep me coming back to XD at the Cinemark.

 

Stargate may have been a B Movie plot, but the sound was Oscar worthy. IMDB lists 50 people related to the sound. I saw it in screen 7 at the United Artists Riverview. The big room with DTS. I used to call the theater on my day off to see what was on screen 7. My other standout experience on the screen were Judgment Night and Blown Away.

Stargate (1994) - Sound Department - IMDb

 

My only experience with a Cinemark XD theater was not good. They put in a huge screen, yes. But it was too big for the room and the bottom of the screen was cut off by the floor seats. There was no place in the auditorium where you could have a view of the entire screen. It's not a higher-resolution projector, so the same amount of light is spread over a bigger screen. It's like AMC pseudo-IMAX, with 4K of resolution spread over an overly large screen, and you can actually see the pixels.

In both cases, they cheaped out trying to retrofit huge screens in standard auditoriums. Maybe if I saw a designed to spec XD theater...

 

I'm sorry to read about bad sight lines at your local XD screen. According to my old horror film buddies at Exhumed Films, (no title) , one screen at the Cinemark was THX certified when they opened. It was distinguished by not sharing walls with any of the 15 other screens in the theater.

When screen, #9 became the XD room always had a wall to wall screen so the XD upgrade was mainly about the Barco Auro 11.1 sound and recliner upgrade. I can't confirm the 4K Barco projector, but the manager who fielded my complaint about rattling HVAC ducts during Blade Runner 2049 claimed that 4K files are always used in the XD theater.

In contrast the AMC Dolby Cinema screen in Philadelphia is new from the ground up.

 

I remember seeing Sensurround at the Midland Theater in Kansas City. We actually got some of those W bins when they shut down the project, and managed to buy one of the BGW 1000 watt amps that have been created for Sensurround.

 

Do you still have/use them?

 

No, the "we" I was talking about was the sound company I worked for at the time. They went out of business 20 years ago.

 

I honestly didn't realize THX certified movie theaters still existed! It's been decades since I saw one!

 

Next time I'll take a picture. AFAIK, Lucas Film sold off the THX stuff ages ago in 2002. I guess that the folks at Razer decided there was still value in the THX name.

 

I believe you - just saying I'm surprised since I've not seen it in a looong time.

BTW, I think the rattle from "BR 2049" was due to that movie's audio design. I saw it IMAX in your neck of the woods - Cherry Hill AMC - and the audio was stupid loud, with a lot of rattle.

I assumed that theater's system faltered, but I heard so many other complaints about "BR2049" that it became clear it was supposed to sound like that!

 

No sarcasm was intended. I’m happy to finally sea a THX plaque as the Philadelphia area never had a THX certified theater during the original THX heyday.

My only stupid loud experience was The Gangs Of New York at the Cinemark 16. I don’t recall the audio format, but I’m sure I picked a theater with digital sound.

 

Gotta be kidding, even in the mid size (by Spanish standards) city where I live there were 6 THX certified (and there still are) cinema rooms.

 

No THX-certified cinemas are still a thing:

THX Cinema - THX