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I actually love the previews.

What keeps me away from the movie theaters are

A) Ticket prices, which are freaking insane. We're approaching Bluray levels.

B) People talking / babies crying

C) If I don't get a good seat, the experience is pretty bad.

D) Many times there are technical problems, like an out of focus projector, or it's too dark, or too loud/quiet. I can't just get up and adjust any of that.

Having a 1080p projector + 200" screen at home is so much better.

do you live outside the US? because i've been to probably over a thousand in-theater movies in my life and have never heard a baby crying, and have seen technical problems like an out of focus projector only a handful of times. but i agree with A) and C).

It happens from time to time (maybe not the crying, but doing other kid stuff like fidgeting and asking questions), even in grown up movies that should never have had children watching them.

The problem in US is grown ups being way too loud in their laughing, shouting and talking. In any other country I've been it's accepted that cinemas are supposed to be a place where you listen to the movie rather than your neighbor, but in US it appears to be a social experience that you loudly share with your friends.

"OK, raise your hand if the reason you don't go to movies is because the screens aren't big and bright enough."

I'm probably in the minority, but I actually don't go to the cinema if I know the film is being shown in a small auditorium. It doesn't matter what the type of film is, I want to see it on a medium or large screen. I hate walking into an auditorium only to find a tiny screen - it ruins the whole experience for me. You also pay the same ticket price as the cinemagoers watching a different film in a much larger auditorium (with bigger screen).

I realise that cinemas can't fill their larger auditoriums with certain films, but some of the smaller auditoriums I've sat in have screens not much bigger than what a home projector will give you. Unfortunately, a lot of indpendent cinemas have some of the smallest screens I've seen. I'd rather wait for the DVD than pay for a paltry screen experience.

So yes, for me at least, a bigger screen, and a brighter picture does influence whether or not I would go to the cinema.

I don't think cinemas will die out. At least not all of them. They will have to adapt. In Germany there's a chain of 'luxury' cinemas where you get bigger, more comfortable seats and table service with them. It costs about 50% more than the ticket in your standard cinema. As far as I know, it's always sold out.

In Germany there's a chain of 'luxury' cinemas where you get bigger, more comfortable seats and table service with them. It costs about 50% more than the ticket in your standard cinema.

Things like that are kinda what I was thinking about as well. There are similar things here in the US, although I'm not sure how common they are.

Interesting. What's the name of this chain?

I don't know about Germany, but Alamo Drafthouse does something similar in many cities in the US.

AMC has experimented with a similar approach in a few places, not every theater.

Yes. Alamo is pretty much the only theater I'll go to. They don't have the best screens at most locations but theres more space and a table between each row. Here in Austin where Alamo started we have several of them around town and even a few competitors trying the same thing with a little more luxury. This is where theaters need to go to get my business. Total experience not just video and sound.

We have that in the US too - a combined restaurant and theater.

AFAI'm concerned, even the standard German cinema chains (Cinemaxx; UCI) have very decent theaters and seats.

And maybe it's because I avoid going to movies on Friday/Saturday night, or because I avoid the worst of blockbuster movies, but I almost never have problems with noisy people or children around me in the movies I see.

I like the cinema, but actually don't go very often. Laziness, I guess, and I'd have to adapt to their schedule.

Agreed! While I find these advancements in technology intriguing, I use to love going to the cinema but the thought of going to the cinema these days when it is such a disappointing experience these days.

Two biggest points which put me off: 1) People on mobile phones, texting/facebooking etc is bad enough but when did it become acceptable to answer the phone mid film?! 2) Anti piracy adverts, I have just paid £9 or something ridiculous to watch a film! I do not want to see a 1 minute about how I wouldn't steal a handbag!

When I think about the amount of money I have spent on my home cinema I do cry a little inside, but as a huge movie fan I'd much rather wait for it to be released and buy the blu-ray (for the same price as going to the cinema by the time you have factored a £4 drink into it, parking etc), rip to hard disk and strip the adverts off it and have the ability to pause it :)

The average movie-goer attends the cinema despite all the things you find objectionable, without necessarily being a cinephile. Since you much prefer to stay home already, you're not representative of the target demographic.

I feel like you're over-simplifying a bit. Look at it from the POV of the movie companies: they want to make more money, right? Off-hand, I see three obvious ways they can do that:

1. Get more people to go out to the theater for movies.

2. Get people who do go, to go more often.

3. Get people who do go, to pay more.

Now it seems clear they hope that this tech movement will support (3) above, but I'm thinking they also want (1) and / or (2) as well. And that's where I think this will fall short. That's where people like me, who do go to the movies, albeit not terribly often, probably aren't going to suddenly start going to 2x or 3x (or more) more movies, just because the screen is bigger/brighter. And I suspect the same is true for non-movie-goers.

Conversely, there is a risk that if they roll out these new projectors, and do raise prices, that they'll find still more people choosing to stay home, if they decide the increase in screen quality doesn't justify the price.

Anyway, don't get me wrong... it's not that I think this is a Bad Idea or anything. I am just skeptical that it's going to be the magic ticket to a massive surge in profitability for movie theaters and movie production companies.

Theaters make their money on food, mostly. The ticket prices are split between rental of the movie and overhead of running the theater.

That's an interesting point...

We often say, "X will fail because I don't do X, and this proposed change makes me like X even less."

But if you're already not doing X, the change isn't for you anyway.*

Charitably though, we might interpret that argument as "My concerns are shared to a lesser extent by the marginal user of X. This change amplifies these concerns. Therefore, the change will cause X to lose marginal users."

For me, I don't go to the movies anymore because the internet is amazing and screens are cheap. Also, I like older movies as much as new ones, and being in a room with friends more than being with strangers.

I assume, maybe incorrectly, that the reason most movie consumers don't feel like I do is because they are not rabid technophiles. Maybe they just don't realize the fountain of entertainment they can easily put on a spectacularly sized display in their own home.

If I'm right, that that's the barrier, then once late adopters realize this, it may be game over for cinemas.

Maybe I'm wrong. We should ask, "Why do people actually go to the movies?"

*EDIT: It's a bit like everyone's complaint that 24 hour news isn't more intelligent. There was a panel at the Aspen Ideas Festival where MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell basically said: We'd love to tell complex and deep stories. People who enjoy such stories though have busy lives and aren't home during primetime, they're going to the ballet, or outdoors, or reading a novel, and getting their news by scanning the internet for a few minutes each day. We run the market experiment against PBS every night.

Hmm, I'm a rabid technologist, but a 'spectacularly sized display in your own home' doesn't compare with a cinema screen unless you're in a very tiny demographic of ultra-wealthy people. I say that despite having pretty good projection capability at home.

Now admittedly I work in film so I care more than the typical cinemagoer about these things. But there is a vast difference between watching a well-photographed film on even the largest home theater screen and watching it projected full size with appropriate anamorphic lenses and so forth.

I won't watch very many new movies even at home. If the product's good enough, then that's the experience.

According to Martin Scorcese's movie-about-movies (Personal Journey), theaters used to be on-network with the studios. They would stagger releases to test audience acceptance. Then there was U.S. V. Paramount coupled with television. That led to the "Jaws" style hype and time-coherent releases.

Still, looking at parking lots at theaters, they appear full.

I agree. I used to see going to the cinema as a social meeting. But now I invite people to my home to watch movies from a DLP projector.

This projector will be cheaper over time, and more and more people will be able to do that.

About the "3D thing", good for them if they want to raise tickets with it, but it is not for me.

It is not real 3D, just for those that have stereopsis their main way of understanding space. But neither my family or me do.

I purchased a JVC DLA-X35B and made my own screen. Watched it a lot for about a year and sold it when I moved. It ended up costing me about 8$ per hour of playback, but I was able to be in my own home and adjust the light/sound/experience to be exactly what I wanted.

If you have the space and some disposable income, you should consider it!

I agree in all cases except for 3D, which I would pick in many cases over 2D if it weren't for how dim the picture gets when you split half the light into each eye.

I'm of a similar attitude.

The final nail in the coffin of cinema attendance, for me: Stories about bedbugs.

As for laser-lit screens, aside from lingering thoughts of "vaporware" on my part -- conditioned by years of "a performant pocket laser projector is just around the corner" stories -- my other thought might be that it's needed to outshine all the cell phone screens people invariable light up during the movie.

And, last time I was to the cinema, some of the CGI-heavy scenes in particular were actually rather dim. Amongst other things, I recall some news articles about the switch to digital projection and that a number of the digital projector designs actually "cheated", as a cost-saving measure, resulting in low/sub-standard output levels.