[By: Matthew Humphries, Geek.com]

Over the past few years I have been visiting movie theaters less and less. It’s a combination of the rising cost of visiting the theater, coupled with the fact that the quality of the playback isn’t as good as a DVD or Blu-ray on my home HD flatscreen.

With the advent of 4K digital projectors being installed I expected to see a noticeable increase in playback quality that warranted the high price of theater entry. But that quality may be lost due to a lack of care or preparation on the part of the theater chains and a new form of DRM imposed by the projector manufacturer, in this case Sony.

The Sony 4K digital projectors being installed for the past couple of years are capable of showing movies in 3D and 2D. For 3D playback, a 3D lens is fitted on to the projector to allow for rapid alternation of the two required images. To show a 2D movie, you have to remove that lens otherwise it drastically cuts the amount of light being projected which would result in a very dark 2D playback.

The problem stems from the fact many movie theaters aren’t bothering to remove the 3D lens, so these crisp, vibrant 2D digital films lose between 50-85% of their light.

The reason theaters are doing this is more complicated than you may think. It isn’t just down to a lack of knowldge or laziness on the part of the theater and projectionist, although in some cases that may be part of the problem. The real problem is how difficult it is to remove the lens.

On these Sony 4K projectors the removal of the lens requires time, money, and security clearance. That’s right, in order to take the lens off you first need a password which has to be acquired over the Internet. It’s a form of digital rights management for projection hardware.

The next problem occurs if you get the procedure wrong. Enter the password incorrectly, or don’t follow the removal instructions to the letter, and the projector will shutdown rendering it unusable until unlocked by a trained engineer. Theater managers don’t want to risk losing a theater for a few hours, so they take the decision to show a very dark 2D film instead and bypass the problem to the detriment of the paying viewer.

Ty Burr of the Boston Globe has been investigating this issue and found no one wants to talk about it on record. Projectionists are stating what the issues are, theater managers say they have no policy in place for lens removal, and Sony has refused to comment.

If you are visiting a movie theater and are concerned about this, it’s quite easy to tell if you are being shown a dark movie other than just judging the playback with your own eyes. Here’s the key things to look for:

• The title of the movie listed by the theater will have a “D” after it if it is being shown on a digital projector
• If you are in a D movie, look at the projector window when seated. If you see two stacked beams of light it is a Sony projector with the 3D lens still on.
• A single beam of light means no 3D lens, or a different make of projector that doesn’t have the issue

If you see the two beams, then get up and go complain. You paid good money to see the movie, so make a fuss until they either give you back that money or remove the lens. Seeing as its an involved and time-consuming process expect a refund.

See the original post here: http://www.geek.com/articles/geek-pick/sony-3d-digital-projector-lenses-are-ruining-2d-movies-20110523/