Christie®, a leader in creating and sharing the world's best visual and audio experiences, is pleased to announce that CGV, a subsidiary of CJ Group and South Korea’s largest multiplex cinema chain, is the first exhibitor in the world to be equipped with Christie’s revolutionary RGB laser projection system featuring even more wavelength diversity to countermeasure speckle on silver screens.
The system consists of a
Christie CP42LH 3DLP® 4K RGB laser projector and laser modules that generate white
light from multiple combinations of RGB primary color wavelengths. This type of
laser system provides better speckle performance than 6P systems when used with
silver screens and passive polarization-based 3D glasses. It has been installed
by Christie’s Korean partner, Ray & Resources, at SphereX CGV Youngdeungpo
in Seoul. CGV’s SphereX is a specially designed, one-of-a-kind curved silver
screen to maximize immersive 3D experience. The auditorium at Youngdeungpo has
a 19-meter wide curved screen and 387 seats – resulting in a spectacular
viewing experience with remarkable speckle performance. This is CGV’s second
auditorium in Korea to deploy Christie’s pinnacle cinematic projection
technology, following the installation of Christie’s 6P laser projection system
at CGV Starium in October 2015.
Nochan Park, Senior Manager,
Cinema Technology Team, CGV, commented, “Having experienced the impressive
brightness and performance of Christie’s 6P laser projection system in CGV
Starium, we would like to implement this top-of-the-range laser projection
system in our SphereX auditoriums which are equipped with curved silver
screens. After much deliberation, we have decided to deploy a Christie CP42LH
laser projection system at SphereX CGV Youngdeungpo.
It has been optimized with additional laser modules to diversify
wavelengths, with the objective of minimizing speckling for this technically
challenging, custom silver screen when viewed with passive 3D glasses. This is
by far the best solution possible for silver screens and we’re very pleased
with the results.”
The installation includes a
state-of-the-art Christie 4K laser projection head, RGB laser modules, a
modular laser light farm with fiber-optic delivery, Christie integrated media block (IMB)
and Network Attached Storage (NAS). This particular system is designed to
achieve exceptional brightness in 3D with a light output of close to 40,000
lumens; and is easily upgradable in the future if more light is ever required. The
CP42LH installed in SphereX CGV has been officially commissioned and commenced
regular movie screenings December 24.
“While our dual-headed 6P laser
architecture has been proven as the most light-efficient 3D technology on the
market, we now offer a solution to address the issue of speckle when our laser
projection system is used in theaters with silver screens and passive 3D
glasses,” said Henry Khang, general manager, Christie Korea. “By configuring
the laser modules used for the projection system with even greater wavelength
diversity, we can effectively overcome the issue of speckling on silver
screens. As a result, exhibitors now have the option of using an existing
silver screen without having to replace it when installing our laser projection
system, which translates to significant cost savings.”
Lin Yu, Vice President, Christie
Asia Pacific, added, “We’re absolutely delighted that CGV has once again acknowledged
the superiority and flexibility of Christie’s revolutionary RGB laser
projection system in delivering an unparalleled laser projection and viewing
experience. With the world’s first installation of our CP42LH at SphereX CGV Youngdeungpo that
uses a curved silver screen, we have demonstrated the versatility of our laser
projection system. We look forward to
seeing more exhibitors installing our RGB laser projection system in their premium
large format theaters, even if they are equipped with silver screens.”
Anchored by the Christie
Freedom® laser illumination system, the CP42LH produces a color gamut that exceeds the DCI P3 color
and replicates the Rec. 2020 space, making it the most advanced RGB laser
cinema projection system available. It consists of rack-mounted laser modules where each module can
produce up to 5,000 lumens of light. Because of the scalability of this
platform, up to 12 laser modules can be easily added, removed, activated or
disabled depending on the brightness requirements. This provides up to 60,000
lumens per rack. Each laser module is also independently cooled, providing
built-in fault protection, improved efficiency and ultimate reliability.