As much fun as widescreen TV’s and home theaters are, they just don’t compare to the experience of seeing a film in the theater; the big screen and sound just make for a much more immersive spectacle that’s just hard to replicate in your living room. Unless, of course, you get Cinera.
Cinera is sort of like a VR headset, but with it’s own twist – less Virtual Reality, and more Cinematic Experience. It has two separate 2.5k screens in it, which combine together to produce a 5k, UHD image. That’s more than the largest of home theater TV’s out right now – actually, 3x that of a movie theater screen – and kind of like having your own private Imax that no one else can even see. The headset uses the ideal field of view of 66 degrees, and whenever you put these things on, you feel positively immersed in the video in a way that regular screens just can’t do, and the pixels per inch comes out to 39 – far more than any other VR-type headset out there so far (the Ocolus Rift only clocks in at 9.8). The aspect ratio is very close to most movies native 2.35:1.
And let’s not forget 3d; the two separate screens of the Cinera allow you to view 3d videos and films, but without those annoying cheap glasses. (You just have a giant pair of goggles on your head instead). Since the 3d capability is built into the devices native stereoscopic display and there’s no need for glasses, the pictures is actually far brighter (up to 75%), crisper and clearer than the 3d you get in a theater, and maybe actually somewhat viewable. With Cinera, you can say goodbye to those overpriced 3d tickets too. To top it off, Cinera comes with an articulated “burden-free arm,” which mounts the headset at a comfortable viewing height in front of your face, and lets you swing it in and out of the way.
So what do you think? Is Cinera going to take down the theater industry? And is it worth the price tag? (The “Early Bird” Kickstarter package starts at $449). That’s entirely up to you to decide. It looks like a fun toy for sure, but we don’t plan on getting rid of our home theater quite yet.