Going Beyond Home Theater

Over the years we’ve been involved in a number of really interesting projects - from elaborate custom home theaters, to amazing outdoor large-screen experiences, to big screen fun inside sports bars and restaurants, even in RVs and yachts. But sometimes a trade show can spark new thinking and unique design concepts. Often times, inspiration come from necessity… how to showcase new technologies without standing in line for a traditional theater demo. Here’s one that is memorable and quite remarkable.

A few years ago the Screen Innovations team designed a ‘pub’ cinema concept, whereby trade show attendees could wander by, look through the totally open floorplan, recline in a seat within the theaer or outside ‘at the pub level’ and enjoy the show. A Wolf Cinema projector lit up a large SI 2.45:1 CinemaScope® concept screen called the Transformer - a motorized fixed screen without visible masking that changed its shape to display the wide variety of film and TV aspect ratios.

The Screen Innovations ‘Pub’ Trade Show Booth -

A 138” wide 2.45:1 aspect screen using SI’s Slate material [1.2 gain] and a Wolf Cinema UHD/4K projecotr - note, this photo is unretouched and taken with the lights on! 

While the screen ultimately proved to be quite challenging to manufacture, SI did a great job in pushing the envelope of current screen technologies - and we were very proud to be their projector partner at this European premiere showing. The image was fanstastic on the ambient light rejecting, 1.2 gain Slate material, and the booth proved to be a spectacular example of thinking “outside the box.”

Custom installers and designers - you might consider something similar for those special customers that love to entertain their guests, in areas with a bit more ambient lighting and unique viewing habits. I can envision the outside seating ‘pub’ area becoming a fan favorite spot for watching sporting events, for kids of all ages playing games, even casual TV viewing. The inner sanctum with lowered lighting would ‘transform’ into a prime movie viewing experience, coupled with a state-of-the-art multi-channel audio system, theater seating, one-touch automation and more.

Kudos to the SI team for creating a remarkable theater design concept, one that we recognize as truly leading edge.