Moviegoers, Don't Be Fooled!

There's a conspiracy of laziness going on in movie theater chains across the country, as exposed in this Boston Globe article. Now that 3D movies are becoming more prevalent, Sony and other companies are giving away digital 3D projectors to movie theaters so that they'll play more movies in 3D. It makes perfect sense - the more 3D projectors, the more 3D movies, the more profits for all involved. And that's perfectly fine. Here's what's not: between 3D and 2D showings, no one is changing the lenses.

Why does that matter?

If you've ever watched a 3D movie, you've noticed that the image is darker than in 2D. You probably thought this was just the glasses, but it's also the polarization process the film goes through when it's being projected, allowing the movie to be seen in 3D. There's a (debatably) fair trade going on there - worse color, but awesome 3D action.

The problem is, if you don't switch the 3D lens in the project to a 2D lens, then suddenly you're getting a 2D film that's up to 85% darker than a film with the 2D lens without the benefits of 3D. That sounds like a pretty big ripoff to me.

Why don't they just change the lens?

That's a great question. Apparently it takes time and some small amount of training to be able to do this, and movie theaters, being lazy, don't think anyone will notice, so they don't do it. Yeah, it doesn't sound like a good excuse to me, either.

What can you do?

Fortunately, the answer here is pretty simple. The next time you see a movie, take a look at the light from the projector behind you: do you see two lights on top of each other? If so, you're looking at a 3D lens that has not been switched out, and you should immediately go tell the manager. Get it changed or get your money back. Tell everyone in the theater what happened. That's the only way to change it. I know it seems weird, but I literally tried this out today when I saw "The Hangover: Part II"(which was ok, but not nearly as good as "Bridesmaids") - fortunately, my projector just had one light (that I could see), so I was in the clear.

So be aware, film patrons, and make sure to get your money's worth so that theaters know they can't get away with improperly projecting our movies! With the ticket prices we're paying these days, we deserve a lot better.