Esquire IMAX Theatre
Sacramento, California, USA
The Esquire opened on March 14, 1940. Architect William David trimmed the art deco facade with red Chinese tile. Interior design was by Miguel Santocono. Over the years, the theater was eventually triplexed and closed in 1982 and converted into office space. With the renaissance of the K Street mall, the Esquire (along with its neighboring Studio Theatre) was incorporated into the Esquire Plaza office building. All but the facades of the theaters were demolished. The Esquire's auditorium was rebuilt as an IMAX theater and the Studio was rebuilt as a restaurant. The theater reopened in 1999.
A view of the Esquire Theatre and the former Studio Theatre (Esquire Grill) at night.
A view of the lobby and snack bar, all decorated for the release of Space Station 3D.
The seating area, as seen from the side.
The seating area, as seen from the front row.
A view of the screen's size from the auditorium exit.
This theater uses the good polarized glasses from Imax.
A view of the booth from near the projection manager's desk.
The GT projector threaded up and ready to run a 3D show. The left eye is played from the MKII (on the left) and the right eye is played from the QTRU (on the left). Confusing, no?
The sound rack contains (first rack from top) the DTAC itself, six digital equalizers, two IDAC input interfaces and the UPS; (second rack from top) Williams transmitter for hard-of-hearing, Williams transmitter for secondary-language, system mute, non-sync expansion interface, isolation transformer, Telex intercom, microphone matrix, 5-disc CD player, soundtrack/CD storage drawer, and amp for booth monitor and lobby music.
The last two racks contain the 16 Bryston amps for the auditorium.
The video rack is located at the control console for ease of use during events and preshows. The rack contains a DVD player for the lobby, 7-disc DVD player for the auditorium, VHS, satellite receiver, HDTV satellite receiver, and some ethernet stuff that conveniently fit at the bottom of the rack.
The main controls for the audio and projection systems are also located at the operator's station. From the left, the DTAC remote touchscreen, the Imax projector PLC, and the A/V ATX remote touchscreen.
The Sanyo PLC-XF41 is a 7700 lumen projector. Below that is the old Barco projector (a wimpy 1600 lumens) and the auxiliary rack for AMX controls.
The MK-II reel unit is an outer feed unit that requires the film be rewound after playing.
The QTRU reel unit is a center feed unit which allows for shows with quick turnarounds. That's Matrix Reloaded sitting there on the 72-inch platter.
The lower two decks have been modified to run films as long as 150 minutes from platters as wide as 72 inches in diameter. A Palm Pilot helps regulate payout speed when playing films from these decks. The weight of a 2.5 hour print on the platter is well over 800 pounds.
The extremely large film library is all stored in the projection room. This is the storage cabinet for films mounted on MK-II reels.
There are two cabinets for films mounted on QTRU platters.
In the mechanical room, the CCU controls the flow of water to the lamphouse. The lamps, collectors, mirrors and dowser are all water cooled.
The Ingersol Rand air compressor and the water chiller.
An unobstructed view of the mechanical room equipment. Two Miller 15K rectifiers, refrigerated air dryer, air receiver, IR air compressor, water chiller, and Imax CCU.
In the HVAC mechanical room is the booth humidifier. Projection room humidity is controlled between 40% and 60% RH by injecting steam into the HVAC air flow.
An automated audio tour is available in the viewing gallery. Visitors push a button on the wall and listen as the projection equipment is described by a pre-recorded system from Muzak.
A view of the gallery with speakers visible above the windows.
The Sonics PPS speaker system for the DTAC-GT sound system.
The subwoofer array for the DTAC-GT sound system. There are a total of eight 18-inch subs here.
A view of the screen tower from behind.
Special thanks to Adam Martin for the pics.