The DLP projection system, used to show Episode One in selected theaters, uses three tilted micromirrors to project a seamless image onto the screen. But that is the innovation. Indeed, to call this a video projector is to call a Ferrari a car. With digital technology a rock solid electronic image replaces the jittery film image made by the century- old mechanical movie projector. Frames are not lost to projection-booth repairs.
Scratches don t mar screenings after the second week.
After a screening at the Burbank AMC 14-Plex using the new technology, a Texas Instruments engineer, along with a dozen people who each had a better grasp of film technology than any individual I have ever met, talked turkey about technology. Then they moved on to the effect of the anamorphic lens that turns the image from a square chip into a rectangular picture. One observer thought he had found a digital defect when he observed several vertical lines that remained visible throughout the entire film. It turned out he was seeing the folds in the physical screen, installed just days ahead of the film opening and not yet stretched out smoothly. The digital screenings were open to the public but clearly targeted the hometown Hollywood crowd.