[Variety]

Warner Bros. and Peter Jackson set frames racing Tuesday at CinemaCon, but did exhibs’ hearts beat faster? Maybe not so much.

Exhibs and press who gathered at Caesars Palace for WB’s presentation — including 10 minutes of “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” — were decidedly mixed over what they saw of the pic’s 48 frames-per-second format, which James Cameron championed at last year’s confab but won’t arrive in theaters until the first half of Jackson’s adaptation, due Dec. 14.

Exhibitors would need at least software-level projection upgrades to show the format, and while the footage presented a dark and intriguing vision for the “Lord of the Rings” origin story, not all were enamored of the look of the doubletime frame rate.

The “Hobbit” reel looked distinctively sharper and more immediate than everything shown before it, giving the 3D smoother movement and crisp sharpness, while losing the cinematic glow of the industry-standard 24 fps. The realism gave CG characters a distinct presence, but human actors seemed overlit and amplified in a way that many compared to modern sports broadcasts (as high as 60 fps in HD) and daytime television. …

See the full story here: http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118053075