Qube Delivers Premium Immersive Audio Experience to Cinemas Published on Friday, December 1, 2017
Published in Theatre World Magazine
Qube Cinemas Immersive Audio division has installed Dolby Atmos in more than 100 cinema screens across India. With their unmatched domain expertise and ability to innovate, Qube is delivering the ultimate immersive sound experience to cinemas in the country.
TheatreWorld tracks the journey of Qube Cinemas Immersive Audio division.
Watching a movie at the cinema should be a captivating experience, drawing the moviegoer into the story and immersing them in the picture and sound. The audience has been traditionally drawn to the cinema due to the large screen experience and the potential to share the thrill with an auditorium full of likeminded people.
The audio industry has been at the forefront of movie technology, striving to produce immersive audio - beginning with the introduction of stereo, 5.1 and 7.1 surround sound technologies. Immersive audio is a cutting edge technology that generates an audio soundscape that surround and immerses the listener in a complete and utterly convincing sonic experience.
Pioneers of Audio
Qube Cinemas Immersive Audio team has been quietly bringing about an immersive audio revolution in India and cinemas in the country are extending the large-screen picture with an enhanced immersive sound experience. While there was awareness of the importance of sound after the introduction of Dolby Digital in the mid 1990s, there was a dearth of professional system integrators who were well versed with the technology and focused on achieving the best results. Cinemas did not always play the sound the way the director or the sound engineer had intended. Qube Cinema brought a sea change in the digital cinema sound in India which helped it to move from mono to digital.
There were a number of companies that sold international brands in India, but without the requisite technical expertise. Qube initially did the design and installation of numerous audio recording and mix facilities in South India. Later, Qube began to undertake cinema projects outside India and have executed around 30+ cinema screens until now.
Qube designed and installed Asias first Dolby Atmos mix stage in Chennai. There was a need to meet certain standards specified by Dolby for Dolby Atmos and this required a team with the right technical knowledge and capability in the market. There was also demand from the creative audio community in achieving a higher level of standardization in movie sound in the theatre and Qube was successful in achieving this.
Qube found an ideal partner in Dolby and began to promote Dolby Atmos format in India in 2012. Sivaji 3D (Tamil) was the first Indian movie to release in the Dolby Atmos format. Qubes high level audio team began to use their expertise for the benefit of the cinema exhibition sector.
Affordable Cost Sets the Trend for Faster Adoption of Dolby Atmos by Cinemas
Initially the migration cost from 5.1 sound to Dolby Atmos was perceived as being high for cinemas and this was being seen as a challenge for faster adoption. It was then that Qube tried to make an affordable offering of Dolby Atmos available for the Indian market. The 16-channel option - which allows reuse of existing equipment with some additions such as the Dolby Atmos CP-850 cinema processor - reduced the investment burden for theatres, and also provided the flexibility to upgrade to a full Dolby Atmos installation later. This was branded as Dolby Surround 16. This stirred the market and resulted in demand for Dolby Atmos even in smaller towns. Kerala, which is a relatively small regional cinema market, today has more than 40 installations of Dolby Atmos! This is a testimony to the popularity and acceptance of Dolby Atmos sound format amongst exhibitors.
Qube represents several leading brands like QSC, Pulz and Dolby. With their vast experience in cinema projection and sound, the Qube Immersive Audio team also offers consultancy services for setting up cinemas from scratch.
South Exhibitors First To Adopt Dolby Atmos
Given the popularity of cinema in the region, the exhibitors from South India were one of the firsts to adopt Dolby Atmos which shows their commitment to providing an unprecedented experience to their moviegoers. TheatreWorld highlights four cinema screens in South India which have been set up with Dolby Atmos by the Qube Immersive Audio team.
Melody Cinema - Vizag
Melody Cinema in Vizag is equipped with Dolby Atmos and has a 54 audio channels installed by the Qube Immersive Audio team. They also have deployed QSC SC443, 3 ways screen channel loudspeaker along with 6 QSC SB7218 dual cinema subwoofers with 48 SR series cinema surround speakers and DPA Digital signal processing amplifiers. Melody has one of the biggest screens in South India - 1660 sq. feet, longest seating arrangement in stadium style seating - 135 feet and one of the first to install studio spec baffle wall and is also equipped with Barco 4K projection system.
At Melody, we strive to provide our customers with the best cinematic experience as they watch their favorite heroes and characters on the big screen. To this end, our main priority throughout our recent theatre renovation was making sure we designed a space where moviegoers would enjoy their audiovisual experience with enhanced state-of-the-art technology, says Dr Lakshmana Rao Atluri, owner of Melody Cinema.
Of course, this meant improving the overall infrastructure and ensuring customer satisfaction and comfort with better seats and upgraded air conditioning. We wanted to offer the best in sound and visual quality as they are critical to maximize the impact of the movie and the two companies that we felt best aligned with our personal philosophy of providing a high quality movie experience were Qube and Dolby
