Barco HDR laser projection with Dolby Atmos Vue "Epic" PLF offering,

[Jonathan Smiles]

Vue International chain is committing to 60 "Epic" screens installed by the end of 2027 in the UK and mainland Europe.

Has anyone here been able to compare the same content in Dolby Cinema and Barco HDR versions?

Previous thread on Barco LS4K HDR projector - https://www.film-tech.com/vbb/forum/...841-barco-ls4k

Sources:
Variety https://variety.com/2025/film/global...ax-1236450143/
Barco press release https://www.barco.com/en/about/press...-for-hdr-by-ba
HDR by Barco https://www.barco.com/en/solutions/cinema/hdr-by-barco
HDR by Barco Post-Production https://www.barco.com/en/inspiration...ion-solutions-

[James Gardiner]

I did a video presentation on the LS4K a while ago. I posted a YouTube video on it. Look up my channel.

The inky blacks of Dolby are cool, but the 300 over 100nit peak luminance of Barco are great.
The Barco, using the new TI-DMD, and hi contrast lenses, can get very good blacks too.
So.. considering, you have to really build a cinema like a dark hole to get the Dolby blacks to be most noticeable, and most cinemas are not built that way and are not experiential to sit in so a higher peak luminance has more impact. I think the Barco has a good market. DCI selected 300 nits over 100 nts for a reason. It looked worth the effort to push the industry to that position. (Although being really technically difficult).

They will both have a market, but the 300nit probably is more suited to how general cinemas are build in terms of return on investment in regard to lift in picture quality for the cinema already build.
But I expect it is very subjective.

[Jonathan Smiles]

Found your YouTube channel.

Interesting Barco have Joachim Zell AKA JZ as head of HDR Content Workflow, it shows Barco are serious with providing Post Production grading and mastering support that Dolby and IMAX provide.

[Leo Enticknap]

I recently saw a launch webinar for the the SP4K-P and their color grading for HDR assistance device (sorry - forgotten the name of it), at which they gave the impression that they are serious about trying to move into the post-production technology market on a more organized and consistent basis than when their presence was just with the Series 2 -P projector.

[Stefan Scholz]

VUE is not known for high standards, at least here in Berlin or northern Germany. They are more known for the worst standard in the industry.
Good to hear the change, but do I trust them?
But that is not the subject here. 100 candles is a great standard brightness for standard DCPs, the level that was standard with 70 mm initially.
300 candles is even more towards a better target.
the problem with super blacks is the reality. A room can be made matt black, walls, seats, rugs, etc. You may minimise the porthole and use anti reflex glass. Sill, in venues I know they use overly bright exit lights that ruin everything, also in minimum dimmed position, wrong hardware choice.
They do not offer powder rooms for patrons to powder the faces matt. greasy Faces re reflect and ruin all contrast efforts.
300 cd has an advantage, it's bright, and very good standard contrast will do, which will also be limited by re reflection. I am curious to see results.