NAB Needs a Proper Theater

Ceci n'est pas un theatre. This is not a theater.

Two of the highlights of NAB 2016 were presentations in South Hall Meeting Room S226. Ang Lee’s 120 fps 4K Stereoscopic 3D “Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk” was stunningly realistic, and Lytro Cinema’s Light Field presentation was a futuristic walk in the fields of advanced physics, optics, mechanics and VFX.

But incredibly, in this NAB wonderful world of cutting-edge technology, with 100,000 techie types swarming several acres of the latest advances in cinema, TV and streaming, the one thing lacking was a proper theater. NOT ONE REAL THEATER. I think I rant about this every year. If IBC can have one of most impressive theaters in Europe–the 1,700 seat Big Screen within the RAI in Amsterdam, why can’t NAB have an equally suitable venue? Surely the cost could be spread among the many NAB vendors eager to present in a proper theater, with real stadium seating and a real projection booth — instead of this jury-rigged conference room where the projector noise is louder than the panel of people on stage. Let’s take up a collection or implore one of the major companies to build it…and they will come.

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Ang Lee (second from left) and panel discussing 120 fps 3D “Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk.”

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