Digital Projection

Bill Desowitz’s article “But Will They Still Be ‘Movies’?” (Nov. 28) seems entirely to miss the point.

Current digital projection methods are beset with problems such as lack of detail, the inability to reproduce deep scales of black and the projection of a subtle pattern onto the screen that is an artifact of the video projection process itself. Similarly, the digital encoding process results in an image that has a smaller color palette, a decreased range of luminance, less detail and more movement artifacts than does conventional film projection. Ironically, the manufacturers of film stock have strived for product that reproduces increasing amounts of detail, color and luminance.

It’s hard for me to call the artists and technicians in the industry and even the many viewers outside of the industry who are not welcoming digital technology “naysayers,” as Desowitz implies. Rather, they seem to me to be people who would opt for quality over expediency and who have not been seduced by the simple and erroneous thought that “if it’s digital, it must be better.”

STEVE LOGIN

North Hollywood