How to Hack Your Summer Movie-going Experience

Going to the movies is as popular as ever, though the experience itself is changing. Over 1 billion people visit movie theaters in the U.S. each year, and many are looking for a luxury experience they can’t replicate at home.

Movie theaters’ luxury upgrades go beyond reclining seats and a full-service bar. Digital and 3D screens are growing in popularity while film-based screens are disappearing. Screens with dual laser projection deliver a picture with more vivid colors and greater contrast ratio, making images appear more dynamic, brighter, and livelier.

Surround sound is getting more advanced as well. Many theaters install 64 strategically placed speakers, surrounding the viewers on all sides and from above. Not only are there more speakers, but the technology allows filmmakers to determine the apparent origin location of each sound, rather than assigning it to a specific speaker for a more immersive experience.

While these advance make your theater experience more immersive, the underlying technology is scalable to home viewing as well. Most television and devices are capable of producing greater color variation and contrast than their firmware allows, but soon that will change. Manufacturers are already creating headphones that mimic the effects of theater-quality surround sound. However, these systems can be very costly, and unless you are planning to watch multiple movies at home every day the cost benefit of doing it yourself just isn’t there.

Read this for more about how tech at the movies can create an affordable luxury experience: