How the shape of your theater affects sound clarity and more advice from CinemaCon

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What is the perfect shape for a cinema? Apparently not a rectangle. At least not from a sensible perspective, according to Mark Mayfield, vice president of International Cinema Technology (or ICTA). At an ICTA presentation entitled “Fundamentals of Presentation Technology” given at the film industry conference CinemaCon, Mayfield discussed everything that goes into producing sound in a theater.

A few interesting tidbits that may be of interest to moviegoers interested in perfect acoustics, according to Mayfield, are related to the main factors that affect room acoustics: the room size and shape, acoustic treatment, and finishes and furniture.

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Since sound literally reflects off surfaces, too many hard surfaces (like walls, floors, or even furniture) can cause sound distortions due to reverberation and echoes. Theaters combat this distortion by using softer surfaces such as carpets. Another interesting way to ensure clear sound is to change the shape of the room.

Two sets of parallel walls are not ideal for preventing sound from reverberating or reverberating too much. Instead, tilting even one wall to create a diamond shape can be extremely important to sound clarity. Of course, building even a single wall at an odd angle is quite expensive, which is why your local theater will probably (and probably will continue to be) rectangular.

Popverse is at CinemaCon all week. Look out for our ongoing coverage.

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