Rave Cinemas, one of the top five North
American cinema circuits, has recently adopted the Digital Screen Checker from Harkness Screens, the world's largest
manufacturer of projection screen surfaces as a method for ensuring brightness
levels in auditoria.
The
Digital Screen Checker a new product from Harkness Screens is a low-cost
hand-held digital cinema luminance meter for accurately measuring screen
brightness, expressed in foot lamberts.
“Brightness
levels are a serious issue for cinema operators especially with more 3D content
coming to market. We’re committed to
making sure that we maintain suitable brightness levels in each of our
auditoria to ensure our customers have the best viewing experience
possible. The Digital Screen Checker
allows us to utilise a low cost solution on our weekly lamp inspection reports to
measure screen brightness in each of our auditoria. The readings obtained from the device help
our technicians to understand the impact of projector configuration, power
settings, lamp life and screen quality on a regular basis and take remedial
action to ensure that our brightness levels are maintained,” says Tina Loucks, Digital
Services Specialist at Rave Cinemas.”
The
battery powered Digital Screen Checker provides instant readings, accurate to
within 0.5fL for both 2D and 3D screens and is calibrated to be accurate even
in the lower ranges used in 3D projection.
The foot lambert reading is shown on an LED digital display and is
expressed to at least one decimal place.
“Modern
Theatre Management Systems are capable of providing a lot of information about
the projector setup, but they cannot determine the screen brightness. The industry is more than aware of Xenon lamp
light output degradation and regular use of the Digital Screen Checker is a very
simple way of confirming this,” explains Richard Mitchell, Worldwide Marketing
Manager at Harkness Screens. “Rave
Cinemas adoption of the Digital Screen Checker shows a real awareness of this
significant issue which all cinema operators face and a genuine commitment to
monitoring light output and we are delighted that Rave Cinemas chose our
device.”
Available
globally, the Digital Screen Checker ships as a complete unit with carry case,
tripod and 3D lens holder.
