OTHER TECH

POSTPRODUCTION

Flash forward to May 2008: I'm sitting in the finished screening room, talking with Lee, Chris, and David and gazing at the beautifully realized space. Criterion president Peter Becker walks in and tells me how pleased the company is with the theater, which has become something of a hub for everyone - a place where ideas and inspirations can be hashed out. But its utility extends far beyond that.

"All we initially wanted was a high-quality consumer-grade lab," says Chris. "We didn't realize that we'd end up with a system that could be used to QC our D5 master tapes."

Aside from the obvious pleasures of having a comfortable, attractive A/V retreat in the center of their office suite, much of the Criterion staff's enthusiasm for the system stems from the Samsung projector's performance. Lee tells me that the SP-A800B's clear, 1080p-resolution picture allows them to "see artifacts that we normally wouldn't see during quality control on our CRT monitor." (A Sony 24-inch BVM-D24E1WU serves as the company's regular display for spot-checking video transfers.)

As we watch a test disc of clips from some of the upcoming Criterion Blu-ray releases, David, Chris, and Lee detail the specific features of the Samsung that allow them to use it as a professional monitor. First and foremost is the projector's SMPTE C color-space preset, which lets it display images with the same color gamut as the Sony CRT monitor - a standard reference used in telecine operations far and wide. It also has spot-on 5,500-K and 6,500-K color-temperature modes, with the 5,500-K preset providing an appropriate look for those vintage black-and-white films. In addition, the Samsung's accurate gamma, linear grayscale, and exceptional brightness uniformity give Lee and his colleagues confidence that the image they're watching is a true representation of the original material.

DVD EXTRAS

Along with providing a reliable, accurate, and large screen for viewing master tapes and other finished or near-finished product, Criterion's kick-ass home theater serves as a resource for the company's employees during preproduction of disc releases. David explains that the room has become "a research tool" for viewing all manner of sources - everything from standard-def VHS videocassettes, laserdiscs (the format that Criterion built its reputation on), and DVDs to high-def D5 master tapes. "SD can actually provide a high-quality picture in the right system," he says.

Another piece of gear that has the Criterion folks stoked is the Anchor Bay DVDO VP50 Pro video processor ("an essential link," according to Chris), which helps the wide range of material that the company checks out on a regular basis look good on its 123-inch projection screen. During a demo, Chris shows off the extensive custom adjustments the VP50 provides for each source attached to it, a list that includes 24-, 48-, 60-, and 72-Hz video output; aspect-ratio and overscan control; film, video, animation, and game mode deinterlacing; and a vast array of noise-reduction and picture controls. There's even a time-base corrector to balance old, shaky-looking analog tapes and laserdiscs. But maybe the coolest thing about the VP50 is its Precision HD SDI (Serial Digital Interface) Dual Input Module, which lets video from the D5 tape machines in Criterion's control room to be fed directly into the VP50 without first undergoing any digital-to-analog conversion or processing.

With a screening room this slick, you'd think that Criterion would have gone the extra mile and splurged on an advanced control system to operate everything. But those duties are carried out by the humble Logitech Harmony 890 remote control - a $350 universal model with a backlit color screen and RF capability. And I was duly impressed by how many advanced functions the Harmony remote could tackle during Chris's demo - everything from scanning the projector and processor's advanced menus to operating the PS3 (with a little help from a Nyko Bluewave adapter to translate IR commands into the PS3's Bluetooth protocol).

But what really blew my mind was seeing Chris use the Harmony to remotely operate the D5 tape machines in the control room through a BUF Technology infrared translator. (That box recognizes IR pulses from the Harmony and converts them to the "9-pin" RS-422 VTR remote-control protocol used by professional tape machines.) It was like watching the world's highest-quality and most expensive VCR in action!