40-579: 800 Seats Screen 2 35 Seats Screen 3 42 Seats Screen 4 The Odeon Luxe Leicester Square is a prominent cinema building in the West End of London . Built in the Art Deco style and completed in 1937, the building has been continually altered in response to developments in cinema technology, and was the first Dolby Cinema in the United Kingdom. The cinema occupies the centre of
80-440: A much needed, kick-start. More than likely it would have garnered far less penetration had Sony not controlled both a theater chain and a film studio. SDDS was consistently the least popular of the three competing digital sound formats, the other two being Spectral Recording Dolby Stereo Digital and DTS . Along with being the most expensive to install (and the last to arrive), there were major reliability issues with SDDS due to
120-605: A single-screen cinema with stalls and circle levels, with the stated intention to maintain its character. The cinema closed on 10 January 2018 with an anticipated reopening in time for the BFI London Film Festival in October—which it failed to meet. The cinema reopened on 21 December 2018 rebranded as part of the Odeon Luxe chain, with a reduced capacity in luxury seats, an enhanced concession offering, and
160-408: A slight loss of fidelity and high and low-ends, similar to a "CD skipping", although it is more difficult to tell in a properly calibrated auditorium . SDDS's much-touted eight track playback capability never quite caught on, as it required that a separate eight channel sound mix be created in addition to the six channel mix that is needed for SRD and DTS, an additional expense for the studios. Out of
200-429: Is a distinct county ). The City of London became a centre for the banking, financial, legal and professional sectors, while Westminster became associated with the leisure, shopping, commerce, and entertainment sectors, the government, and home to universities and embassies . The modern West End is closely associated with this area of central London. Lying to the west of the historic Roman and medieval City of London,
240-542: Is laid out with many notable public squares and circuses. London Underground stations in the West End include: 51°30′48″N 0°07′43″W / 51.51333°N 0.12861°W / 51.51333; -0.12861 Sony Dynamic Digital Sound Sony Dynamic Digital Sound ( Japanese : ソニー・ダイナミック・デジタル・サウンド , Hepburn : Sonī Dainamikku Dejitaru Saundo , SDDS ) is a cinema sound system developed by Sony , in which compressed digital sound information
280-426: Is more than the maximum 1.536 megabits per second DTS format bitrate, and far greater than the cinema Dolby Digital bitrate of 320 kilobits (0.32 megabits) per second. For additional data reliability the two sides of the film are separated by 17 frames and half, so a single splice or series of missing frames will not result in a total loss of data. The SDDS reader is mounted on top of a 35mm projector . The film
320-408: Is recorded on both outer edges of the 35 mm film release print. The system supports up to eight independent channels of sound: five front channels, two surround channels and a single sub-bass channel. The eight channel arrangement is similar to large format film magnetic sound formats such as Cinerama and Cinemiracle . The five front channels are useful for very large cinema auditoriums where
360-628: Is the largest single-screen cinema in the United Kingdom and one of the few with its circle and stalls remaining intact. The cinema is equipped to show films in 35mm , 70mm and digital on a 48 ft. widescreen and includes stage facilities for live performances. The cinema has an operating Compton organ , its console lit from within by coloured lighting, and a safety curtain detailed in 1930s art-deco motifs. Two sets of tabs (curtains) are also installed and used for most performances. The cinema houses all major digital sound systems: Sony Dynamic Digital Sound , Dolby Digital and DTS . It had
400-488: Is threaded through the reader before it passes through the picture aperture. As the film runs, red LEDs are used to illuminate the SDDS soundtrack . CCDs ( Charge-Coupled Devices ) read the SDDS data and convert the stream of dots on the film into digital information . This information is pre-processed in the reader and passed on to the SDDS decoder. The SDDS decoder is installed in the sound equipment rack. The decoder receives
440-527: The Kidtoon Films program used SDDS tracks. As Dolby Digital (and to a lesser degree, DTS) began to emerge as the clear winner in the digital sound battle, Sony Cinema Products quit manufacturing SDDS encoders and decoders, although it will continue supporting equipment that is still deployed in the field. Out of the three competing formats, SDDS was the only format not to have a corresponding home-theater version, and Sony ceased production of new units in
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#1732780819189480-610: The 1,400 plus films mixed in SDDS, only 97 of them to date have been mixed to support the full 8 channels, most of them Sony (Via Sony Pictures/Columbia/Tristar) releases. Because of the added installation expense, the majority of SDDS installations are 6 channel (5.1) installations, as opposed to 8 channel (7.1) installations. While most major studios eventually began putting SDDS tracks on their releases, most independent films only came with Dolby Digital tracks, leaving many SDDS-equipped, or DTS theaters playing analog sound in otherwise state-of-the-art auditoriums. A few titles released under
520-602: The 1660s, during the late 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, it was built as a series of palaces, expensive town houses, fashionable shops and places of entertainment. The areas closest to the City around Holborn , Seven Dials , and Covent Garden contained poorer communities that were cleared and redeveloped in the 19th century. As the West End is a term used colloquially by Londoners and is not an official geographical or municipal definition, its exact constituent parts are up for debate. Westminster City Council 's 2005 report Vision for
560-592: The Nile . A silver screen is used for 3D presentations, placed in front of the white screen used for 2D presentations. The silver screen is a fraction smaller and screen tabs are not used during 3D performances. Most of the trained projectionists at the Odeon retired, or were made redundant in 2011. Presentations are now mostly automated. Five screens, each seating between fifty and sixty patrons, were added in April 1990 in what
600-578: The SDDS Chief Architect was Jaye Waas and the Chief Optical Engineer was Mark Waring. The Semetex prototype design actually had the eight channels of uncompressed data placed into three locations: data bordering both sides of the analog sound track and additional data tracks bordering the opposite edge of the picture frame. These locations were chosen to ensure the data were not placed into the sprocket perforation area of
640-467: The SDDS project was "Green Lantern", taken from the name of the comic book hero and the old term of " magic lantern " used to describe the original projected pictures in the late 19th century. Green came to mind because the key to imprinting the 8 micrometre data bits was to use a green laser. Initial development efforts were conducted for Sony's Columbia Pictures Sound Department under contract with Semetex Corp. of Torrance, California . At Semetex,
680-472: The Sony Theaters chain (later sold to Loews Theaters ), it was able to use SDDS in its own theaters. And via its highly successful Columbia/Tristar Studios arm, it was able to use SDDS as the exclusive digital soundtrack on its titles. In addition, in the early days of the "megaplex explosion", Sony struck a deal with AMC Theatres in 1994 to include SDDS in all of their new auditoriums. This gave SDDS
720-506: The UK's first wide-screen installed in 1953, and more recently, was the first to have a digital projector installed in 1999. There are 800 seats – including 22 full-recliner seats in the Royal Box – and a "Royal Retiring Room" for visiting monarchs. Oscar's Bar (named after Odeon's founder Oscar Deutsch ) features views across Leicester Square from a glass enclosed balcony. In March 2011, all
760-534: The West End included the following areas in its definition: Covent Garden , Soho , Chinatown , Leicester Square , the shopping streets of Oxford Street , Regent Street and Bond Street , the area encompassing Trafalgar Square , the Strand and Aldwych , and the district known as Theatreland . The Edgware Road to the north-west and the Victoria Embankment to the south-east were also covered by
800-466: The West End was long favoured by the rich elite as a place of residence because it was usually upwind of the smoke drifting from the crowded City. It was close to the royal seat of power at the Palace of Westminster (now home to parliament ), and is largely contained within the City of Westminster (one of the 32 London boroughs ). Following initial development by Henry Jermyn, 1st Earl of St Albans in
840-580: The angular distance between center and left/right channels may be considerable. SDDS decoders provide the ability to downmix to fewer channels if required. Although originally slated to premiere with 1991's Hook , the SDDS project was delayed and instead premiered on June 17, 1993, with Last Action Hero . Since then, over 2000 movies have been mixed and remastered in Sony Dynamic Digital Sound, and as early as 1999 over 6,750 movie theaters were equipped with SDDS. The code name for
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#1732780819189880-430: The change from the prototype sound track placement to the very edges of the film stock where the film is subject to damage. SDDS tracks are prone to damage as are some other digital formats. With all the digital sound formats: any failure of the digital track could result in a "drop-out" of the digital format and possibly a switch to analog sound. Additionally a drop-out resulting in a switch to Analog (Analogue) may produce
920-541: The cinema's screens converted to digital projection equipment with 3D capability. Up until 2009 the cinema and film distributors did not have faith in the reliability of digital presentations, so the cinema would run a 35mm print alongside. If the digital show failed the projectionist would switch to film. If that projector then failed, the performance would be abandoned. One 35mm/70mm projector has been retained, and has been used for recent 70mm releases including Interstellar , The Hateful Eight , Dunkirk and Death on
960-407: The document but were treated as "adjacent areas" to the West End. According to Ed Glinert's West End Chronicles (2006) the districts falling within the West End are Mayfair , Soho , Covent Garden , Fitzrovia and Marylebone . By this definition, the West End borders Temple , Holborn and Bloomsbury to the east, Regent's Park to the north, Paddington , Hyde Park and Knightsbridge to
1000-432: The early 2000s. The format carries up to 8 channels of Dynamic Digital Sound (DDS) encoded using Sony's ATRAC codec with a compression ratio of about 5:1 and a sampling rate of 44.1 kHz. The channels are: Additionally there are 4 backup channels encoded – in case of damage to one side of the film or the other. These are: This gives a total of 12 channels, for which the total bitrate of 2.2 megabits per second. This
1040-504: The eastern side of Leicester Square in London, featuring a black polished granite facade and 120 feet (37 m) high tower displaying its name. Blue neon outlines the exterior of the building at night. It was built to be the flagship of Oscar Deutsch 's Odeon Cinema chain and still holds that position today. It hosts numerous European and world film premieres , including the annual Royal Film Performance . The Odeon cinema building
1080-459: The film to prevent the known wear and degradation that occurs in the perforation area (due to the mechanical film sprockets) from degrading the data. Clocking and guide tracks were placed on each side of the film near the sprockets. The prototype sound camera imprinted the Digital audio and Analog audio 'at speed'. A companion digital reader was designed to form a complete system. After Sony received
1120-561: The first commercial Dolby Cinema screen to open in the UK. West End of London The West End of London (commonly referred to as the West End ) is a district of Central London , London, England, west of the City of London and north of the River Thames , in which many of the city's major tourist attractions, shops, businesses, government buildings and entertainment venues, including West End theatres , are concentrated. The term
1160-435: The information from the reader and translates it into audio signals routed to the cinema's power amplifiers . The decoder is responsible for a series of processes that must be performed before the audio is recovered. Next, errors caused by scratches or damage to the film are corrected using redundant error recovery data. Since SDDS is read at the top of the projector, the data is delayed slightly to restore synchronization with
1200-417: The most expensive locations in the world in which to rent commercial and office space. Medieval London comprised two adjacent cities – the City of London in the east, and the City of Westminster in the west. Over time they came to form the centre of modern London, although each kept its own distinct character and its separate legal identity (for example, the City of London has its own police force and
1240-562: The presence of a film splice (common for repairing damaged film). The data bit size on film was enlarged from 8 micron (micrometer) to 24 micrometers square, and Semetex's green laser system for the sound camera was replaced with simpler LED/fiber optic assemblies which limited resolving to 24 micrometers. Using data compression allowed 24 micrometers square data bits to fit within the newly allocated areas. The SDDS development at Semetex took just 11 months from concept to working sound camera. When it came time for deployment, since Sony also owned
Odeon Luxe Leicester Square - Misplaced Pages Continue
1280-549: The prototype they enlarged the data bits from the original 8 micron (micrometer) size and moved the data locations; the eight digital audio channels are now recorded on (and recovered from) the edges of the film. As Sony engineers became more actively involved in the project, the design of the SDDS format evolved toward a more robust implementation, including the use of 5:1 ATRAC data compression, extensive error detection and correction, and most critically redundancy. The redundancy allows data to be recovered substantially intact even in
1320-543: The quasi-biblical epic, The Robe . (The first cinema to install CinemaScope in the UK was the Odeon Tottenham Court Road on 9 June 1953, but it was not open to the public until later). The theatre's chief engineer, Nigel Wolland, was appointed MBE for services to the film industry in 2007. The theatre's general manager, Chris Hilton, was appointed MBE for services to the film industry in 2010. After Nigel Wolland's retirement in 2006, Mark Nice
1360-443: The ribbed plasterwork from the balcony to the proscenium replaced by smooth finishes. A refurbishment in 1998 included new versions of some lost details, including the figures, and seating upholstery pattern. The UK's first widescreen (screen ratio 1.66:1) was installed and premiered on 14 May 1953; the film shown was Tonight We Sing . The British public debut of CinemaScope (screen ratio 2.55:1) followed on 19 November 1953 with
1400-401: The west, and Victoria and Westminster to the south. Other definitions include Bloomsbury within the West End. One of the City of Westminster wards is called " West End ". This electoral unit includes some of the most prosperous areas of the borough, including Soho , Mayfair and parts of southern Marylebone . The population of this ward at the 2011 Census was 10,575. The West End
1440-417: Was The Prisoner of Zenda . The interior was an art-deco auditorium, with a ribbed ceiling and sidewalls, featuring concealed strip lighting in coves, and two bas relief sculptures of naked nymphs were positioned on the front splay walls, as if leaping towards the screen. All the seats were covered in a faux-leopard skin material. A modernisation in 1967 removed many of the original features, with all of
1480-486: Was appointed the cinema's chief engineer. Mark Nice was later promoted to the position of Odeon company engineer with Toni Purvis and Michael Mannix assuming the role of Operations Manager Digital. The first Dolby Cinema system to be installed in the UK is at the Odeon in Leicester Square . This introduced a combination of Dolby Vision dual-laser projection system and a Dolby Atmos sound system. The Odeon
1520-407: Was completed by Sir Robert McAlpine in 1937 to the design of Harry Weedon and Andrew Mather on the site of Nevill's Victorian Turkish baths and the adjoining Alhambra Theatre a large music hall dating from the 1850s. The site cost £550,000, and the cinema took seven months to build, at a cost of £232,755, with 2116 seats. The opening night was Tuesday 2 November 1937; the film shown that night
1560-404: Was first used in the early 19th century to describe fashionable areas to the west of Charing Cross . The West End covers parts of the boroughs of Westminster and Camden . While the City of London is the main financial district in London, the West End is the main commercial and entertainment centre of the city. It is the largest central business district in the United Kingdom. It is one of
1600-404: Was once an alleyway running alongside the main house. The screens were originally known as Odeon Mezzanine and were renamed Odeon Studios in 2012. Following the refurbishment in 2018, the number of screens was reduced to four with reduced capacity and renamed as Screens 2 – 5. In 2018 Odeon undertook a full refurbishment at a projected cost of £10–15 million, which saw the building retained as
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