screen size=20x50 feet
Seating capacity and
space requirements
Auditorium at Derby
QUAD
The amount of space required for each
auditorium depends on a number of factors but the figures below provide an
approximate guide. The calculations are based on a modern design using
1.10–1.20 metres from seat back to seat back and 550 – 600mm seat widths.
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200 seats: 270m² /
2,900 ft2
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150 seats: 190m² /
2,000 ft2
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75 seats: 125 m² /
1,350 ft2
The number of screens and the auditorium
capacity depend on many factors ranging from audience potential estimates and
the programming range that is planned to the finance available and the
characteristics and size of the site or building. In general one medium or
large auditorium seating at least 150 people is required. A more typical
capacity is around 200-230 seats. This auditorium should be able to accommodate
the peak audiences at weekends – people turned away from a full house may not
return.
Additional auditoria should be graduated in size down to 70-100
seats for the smallest screen. The variation in capacity allows films to be
placed in auditoria that match their anticipated audience. Smaller capacity
auditoria may prove to be viable as outlined in the section about Digital cinemas.
There are a few new community cinemas beginning to buck the trend as cities
gain small single screening rooms with unusual or luxury seating. It is,
however, advisable to carefully investigate the operational economics of
operating such small auditoria before including them in a new design or a
refurbishment project.
Catering and bar facilities
Gulbenkian
Cafe Bar
Comparatively few cinemas focused on bars and cafés until recent
years, however these facilities are now incorporated in to everything from
large multiplexes (which may have more than one restaurant within the building)
to small, part-time local cinemas and viewed as an integral part of the cinema
business.
What catering can do for your venue
Catering in a cinema can mean anything from running a kiosk to
selling coffee and popcorn to offering a full à la carte menu in luxurious
surroundings. Your choice of catering operation will depend largely on what you
are trying to achieve in terms of your audiences, the space you have available
and your organisation’s finances.
Bars and restaurants within arts venues are sometimes perceived
by their management as an opportunity to make a quick financial return to
subsidise core activity i.e. the arts. Others may take the view that financial
return is a secondary consideration and that the main purpose of the catering
facilities is a service to customers that will enhance their overall experience
of the venue.
These objectives are not mutually exclusive and ideally, you
would aim to achieve both. However, in practice it can be very difficult to
achieve either of these aims. Like any other business, catering operations experience
product life cycles that means that while the potential for reasonable
financial returns exists, it can take time to establish an operation that
yields high return.
Typically, it can take 2-3 years for a new restaurant and/or bar
to begin yielding any profit at all. Restaurants and bars are also subject to
the vagaries of fashion and fashion products suffer ever shortening life
cycles. What is ‘in’ today can be ‘out’ tomorrow. So, even once established,
catering operations require frequent renovation and reinvention. You will
probably get no more than five years for your investment before you have to
start thinking again about the original concept and spending money on
refreshing it.
Operationally, catering is one of the most difficult businesses
to run. Both the raw materials and the end product are highly perishable and
can be subject to daily price fluctuations; demand is subject to strong
seasonality effects with the day, week, month and year. Production techniques
can be highly skilled and good service requires articulate and talented people
yet catering is one of the worst paid industries in the world and has a very
high level of employment turnover. Above all, food is one of the most intimate
and emotive subjects of conversation around. Everyone has an opinion and will
certainly feel entitled to voice it if they are eating in your restaurant.
For
these reasons and others, many establishments opt to subcontract a specialist
to run their catering operations. The advantages and disadvantages of these
arrangements are discussed inChapter 10.
Having said all this, catering and bar facilities can make a very significant contribution
in a number of ways to your venue:-
Differentiation from other venues
Bars and restaurants are another opportunity to make your venue
distinctive from your competitors’. Many would argue that it is almost a
commercial imperative to offer audiences some kind of refreshment before,
during and after the ‘main event’. The style of operation, ambience, good food,
a range of interesting refreshments can all make a contribution to the overall
product offering to your audiences. The food and drink available coupled with a
pleasant ambience will often be the reason why your audiences choose your venue
over that of your competitors.
Enhancing customer experience
Offering restaurants and bar facilities has the potential to
enhance the overall experience of your audiences during the time they spend at
your venue. It will also prolong the experience. However, the converse is also
true. A good arts venue can be totally ruined by poor catering services. It is
therefore essential to retain control and flexibility over what is on offer.
Even if you sub-contract your catering operation to an outside operator, it
will still be perceived that the restaurant and bars on your premises are part
of your organisation and an unsatisfactory experience for your patrons will
reflect badly on you.
Financial contribution
Over-optimism about the levels of financial return available
from bars and restaurants is common. Revenue levels will depend on location,
competition, space, pricing, levels of activity and marketing. It is
notoriously difficult to forecast levels of demand for a new catering operation
and the maximisation of revenues will depend upon very careful consideration
being given to each of the above factors. Levels of net return from catering
operations are likely to be no more than 10-15% of turnover. Catering
operations are characterised by high levels of fixed costs (in particular
labour) and lack of controllability on the variable cost side. They are
therefore high risk and it is not difficult with a bit of bad luck and bad
management to sustain large losses.
5000-lumen 4K RGB Laser Projector
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MODEL: NC1040L-A
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Designed for
auditoriums with screens (up to 32.8 ft. wide), NEC's NC1040L is the first
DCI compliant, DLP, cinema RGB laser projector. Delivering precise 4K (4096 x
2160) resolution, 3-D capabilities and high contrast images (2000:1), this
model is easy to operate, extremely user-friendly and requires minimal
maintenance.
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Learn more about the benefits of
laser projectors in digital signage with this infographic. Download Digital Signage Today's
laser projector white paper.
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3D content utilizes
the projector's full 4K resolution using triple flash technology for smooth
motion
·
Memory functions for
lens position and light output simplify frequent operation
·
Lamp free projector
uses an RGB laser module
·
Direct selection
buttons for eight stored projector configurations
·
Auto brightness
control maintains constant brightness by adjusting the laser power as it ages
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NC-80DS02( HD-SDI
port (BNC) x 4 / DVI port (DVI-digital) x 2): Optional input board shown
SRX-R320P
4K Digital Cinema projector system with server
K Digital Cinema system that conforms to the DCI’s
forward-looking 4K image standard
The SRX-R320P system is a floor standing 4K (4096 x 2160 pixel)
projection system intended for theatre exhibition. The SRX-R320P model name
encompasses the entire system, not just the projector. This includes SRX-R320P
Projector Head, LMT 300 Media Block (1.7TB Storage Capacity), STM-100 Theater
Management System, Projectionist Terminal, and Enclosure Security System. The
system also includes HDSDI and DVI inputs for alternate content. The SRX-R320P
projector is equipped with three Silicon X-tal Reflective Display (SXRD)
devices, delivering more than four times the resolution of full HDTV (1920 x
1080), achieving a high contrast ratio of 2000:1.
There are four models of lenses available for this projector and a single lamp
system. With 4.2kW lamp, SRX-R320P achieves 14ft-L on 20-meter wide screen.
Lenses can be selected using the SRX lens calculator available from marketing
or from the SRX web site. The system is very heavy and it is highly recommended
that field service install it. Dimensions are 27.5 inches wide, 29.9 inches
tall, and 49.2 inches deep. Lamps and lens must be installed on site by
qualified installers. Lamps are shipped separately as hazardous materials.
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Entire 4K Digital Cinema system
Includes SRX-R320P Projector Head, LMT 300 Media Block (1.7TB
Storage Capacity), STM-100 Theater Management System, Projectionist Terminal,
and Enclosure Security System.
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Outstanding image detail for greater
audience immersion
The ultra high resolution of 4K provides more realistic images
allowing greater audience immersion. 4K movies not only bring the visual
experience enjoyed by the director right to the cinema audience but also keeps
the cinema experience ahead of HD home entertainment. Offering 4K projection
also provides a source of differentiation over cinemas equipped with standard
digital projection.
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Outstanding 3D performance
Sony’s unique dual lens for 3D simultaneously projects the Left
and Right eye images to give the benefits of a dual projection system from a
single projector.
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Displays high quality 4K and 2K movies
and HD alternative content
Sony projection systems have the flexibility to allow the
exhibition of mainstream movies with the opportunity for additional revenue
streams from exhibiting high quality video-based Alternative Content. The
display of lower resolution 2K and HD content is enhanced through automatic
up-conversion to a 4K equivalent image before projection.
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A fully integrated projection system
from a single supplier
Sony is uniquely the only supplier able to provide the complete
digital cinema projection system comprising projector, cinema server and highly
integrated screen management system. For larger installations Sony can also
provide its STM-100 Theatre Management System software to handle scheduling
management and status monitoring across a large cinema comple
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