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LIFE TECH FEATURE

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SUPER 8 Before the arrival of the VCR, if you wanted to watch a movie at home, a Super 8 projector would recreate the cinema experience in full colour with sound. The only downside was that the range of films available – including blockbusters like Alien and The Empire Strikes Back – consisted of edited highlights on a single reel, comprising around 17 minutes of footage. But that didn’t diminish the thrill of firing up the projector and enjoying the best bits on a big screen with friends and family.

Summer is traditionally the time studios release their biggest movies, and now you can bring the blockbuster event home and recreate the cinema experience with the whole family (sans the cost of tickets and candy bar) with a home theatre projector. H ome theatre projectors have never been more affordable, or as advanced. Gone are the days when the bigger the ambient light in the room where you’ll be using it, and whether you want a fixed model or a portable one to use outside or on a camping trip. For the best results, a projector should be

be replaced after approx. 8,000 hours of use, so even if you’re watching two or three movies a day, you’ll still get years of use from the lamp. Laser projectors have a longer lifespan of around 20,000 hours and feature greater contrast for 4K content. Some projectors feature receivers for direct connection of a 4K UHD Blu-ray player or games console, and many newer models will also offer Android and smart TV functionality, multimedia

projected image, the more the picture quality was likely to degrade. Today’s projectors can beam movies and content in glorious 4K Ultra HD, and images look as sharp and clear in a brightly lit room as they do in a darkened one. And there is no longer a need to mount them on the ceiling or a rear wall for the best results. When choosing a home theatre projector, first evaluate the size of the room and the size of the projected image – will you be using a dedicated screen or pointing it at a clean white wall? Also consider the amount of natural and

centrally positioned to the screen/wall. Brightness levels and image quality are also important considerations. Brightness is measured in ANSI Lumens – the higher the lumens, the brighter the image. If a projector will be set up in a bright room, 3,000 lumens and above is recommended, while 2,000–2,500 lumens is optimal for a darkened home theatre or media room. There are two types of projectors – lamp and laser. Lamp projectors require the bulb to

THE BIRTH OF THE SUMMER BLOCKBUSTER Released on June 20, 1975, Steven Spielberg’s Jaws is considered the first bona fide ‘summer blockbuster’ – cinema queues snaked around the block in the rush to get tickets. Jaws was not only a monster hit at the box office, it also changed the way Hollywood films were marketed, igniting a new cultural phenomenon: the ‘summer event movie’. Spielberg was not yet a household name, but the novel’s best-seller status

and streaming support. Think about what you’ll mainly use it to watch and purchase accordingly.

combined with an unprecedented TV marketing campaign and wide release strategy resulted in Jaws being the first movie to gross $100 million. The summer blockbuster was born!

38 JANUARY 2022

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