How to Choose the Right Oppenheimer DCP for Your Cinema Screen
Choosing the right DCP for your screen type:
In Norway and other countries, Oppenheimer was delivered as both F-220 and S-220 DCPs. Tenet and Nope and other 2.2:1 aspect ratio films were only delivered as F-220.
The best way to decide which DCP to use is to consider the shape and size of your screen, normally you would choose the F-220 version if you have a Fixed width screen and the S-220 if you have a Fixed height screen.
Since a S-220 DCP should not be shown in a fixed width screen using the standard Scope preset, a S-220 DCP always need to be accompanied with a F-220 DCP.
Fixed width screen (Flat screen)
Screenshot from Cinemaster (christiedigital.com) Cinema calculator tool of a Standard Aspect Fixed Width screen
F-220 in a fixed width screen
If you have a fixed-width screen, where Flat movies fill the whole screen and Scope movies are smaller and have black bars on the top and bottom. You will probably choose the F-220 DCP using the flat setting on the projector. This way, the movie will have small black bars on the top and bottom, but not on the sides.
S-220 in a fixed width screen
If you use the S-220 DCP in a fixed width cinema using the scope setting on the projector, the picture will look too small and have black bars on all sides. It will be both letterboxed and pillarboxed.
Fixed height screen (Scope screen)
Screenshot from Cinemaster (christiedigital.com) Cinema calculator tool of a Standard Aspect Fixed Height screen
S-220 in fixed height screen
If you have a fixed-height screen, where Scope movies fill the whole screen and Flat movies are smaller. You will probably use the S-220 DCP, because it will fill more of the screen.
F-220 in fixed height screen
If you use F-220 DCPs, the picture will be smaller but the sides will have the even Flat digital and physical side masking. Some cinemas do not have physical masking for flat and the film will be shown with black bars on the sides and on top. It will be shown both letterboxed and pillarboxed.
Digital masking
If you want to show S-220 movies on a fixed-height screen with even digital masking on the sides, you could adjust the digital masking in a custom 2.2 setting. For example, if you have a Christie projector, you can create a custom screen file from the scope setting but with new side adjustments. It is easy to fit the digital masking on the sides parallel to the physical masking.
Physical masking
For the best results, you should also match the physical masking to the movie. This helps improve the perceived contrast. It is possible to make custom black physical masking for 2.2:1 on older masking systems using the scope masking preset and stopping it when it reaches 2.2:1. (This can be done in the playlist for the film or in a multi step macro where the command for stopping the masking is timed to stop at the correct place). On newer masking systems 2.2 should be installed as a presets since it has been used on films like Dunkirk, Nope, and Tenet.
Before making digital and physical masking in a fixed height cinema
The sides of the film are uneven before adjusting physical side masking and digital masking when using a tilted projector. This can be seen when playing the Oppenheimer framing chart for S-220 with the scope preset on the projector and side masking.
After making digital and physical masking in a fixed height cinema
After adjusting physical side masking and digital masking the sides are even. This can be seen when playing the Oppenheimer framing chart for S-220 with the custom S-220 scope preset with S-220 digital masking on the projector and S-220 physical side masking.
More info on Scope and Flat presets in cinemas
- All cinemas have settings for Flat and Scope. All cinemas can play both 2K and 4K DCPs. On 2K projectors, the 4K resolution layers are discarded.
- Flat 1.85 and Scope 2.39 have black physical masking around the picture in DCI/SMPTE cinemas. Some cinemas have black masking around other aspect ratios like 2.2, 2.0, 1.9, and 1.37.
- Full container (C) is not used. If you make a 1.9 DCP in 2048×1080 or 4096×2160 it will most likely be cropped and played in Flat. Aspect ratio 1.9:1 should be delivered in a Flat container.
- 2.39 fills the screen in fixed height cinemas, where Flat and Scope share the same height, and the screen is 2.39:1. Modern cinemas usually have fixed height 2.39 screens.
- 1.85 fills the screen in fixed width cinemas where Scope and Flat have the same width, and the screen is 1.85:1.
- Aspect ratios close to 1.85, like 1.37 and 2.0 are used inside Flat.
- Larger aspect ratios than 2.39, like 2.66, are used inside Scope.
- 2.2 has been delivered in Flat (F-220) on Nope, Tenet, and Dunkirk. Oppenheimer was delivered in both F-220 and S-220.