HOYTS Has Unveiled a Huge LED-Powered 'HOYTS APEX' Screen Inside Melbourne Central
Melbourne's big screen selection just got a lot brighter.
Big screen technology has come a long way since the invention of the motion picture. HOYTS, a global brand but a driving force for keeping the big screen business alive down under — having just announced it would open ten IMAX cinemas across Australia and New Zealand in the next two years — is breaking rare ground for moviegoers in Melbourne.
For as long as there has been cinema, there's been projectors. Maybe it was just a matter of time before the LED-based norm of almost every other screen available took over, but HOYTS has opened its brand new LED screen system, HOYTS APEX, inside Melbourne Central.
By the numbers, the 160-degree curved screen is an impressive 21 metres tall and nine metres across, holding upwards of 17 million LED pixels to bring the image to life — for the screen tech-savvy, the picture quality comes with a 600,000:1 contrast ratio, DCI-P3 colour gamut, HDR and high grayscale precision. If you have no idea what any of that means, expect a clearer, brighter picture with more vibrant colours, sharper edges and darker darkness (but in a true dark sense, not that pesky kind of illuminated darkness you might have on your TV at home).
@hoyts Introducing HOYTS APEX, the world's ultimate LED cinema. Experience movies at their peak with new world leading technology, that makes each moment sharper, brighter, and bolder than ever before. HOYTS APEX - coming soon exclusively to HOYTS Karrinyup and HOYTS Melbourne Central. #APEX #HOYTS #MovieTok #Cinema #LEDCinema ♬ original sound - HOYTS
Another major difference between a projection screen and an LED screen is the sound. For the former, sound is left to speakers dotted around the room, but for the latter, each ultra-thin panel (and we do mean thin, as thin as three millimetres) is micro-perforated, allowing sound to pass through unimpeded from Dolby Atmos speakers behind it for true-to-source audiovisual cohesion.
LED cinema screens are still an emerging technology, in the commercial sense. Fewer than 300 are used worldwide, compared to tens of thousands of traditional projector screens. But this is part of a big wave in the Asia-Pacific region, since just last week HOYTS unveiled the world's largest LED cinema screen at another HOYTS APEX in Karrinyup, WA, a 25-metre wide screen that uses over 24 million pixels.
HOYTS Group CEO and President Damian Keogh said, "HOYTS APEX represents a defining moment for HOYTS and for cinema more broadly, setting a new benchmark for what the big screen experience can be. What sets APEX apart is its combination of a curved LED screen of spectacular scale, cutting-edge LED technology delivering true pixel perfection and Dolby Atmos surround sound, bringing every moment to life with remarkable clarity and depth."
Pair this new opening with IMAX Melbourne, the largest 1:43:1 ratio cinema screen (32 by 23 metres) and the only cinema with a functioning IMAX 1570 film projector in the entire southern hemisphere, and Melbourne might be the best city for moviegoers in the whole country.
Images: Supplied.
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