West Wind Drive-Ins, San Rafael, CA, started refurbishing their drive-ins about four years ago. At one location in Concord, CA, the projection stats at the Concord "digital" drive-in are impressive. At your average walk-in, the distance between rows is 43 inches, screen width (for a typical 300 seat multiplex) is around 36 feet, and the "throw" distance from projector to screen is approximately 60 feet. At the Concord drive-in, the distance between rows is measured in car lengths, screen width is a huge 75 feet, and the throw is a remarkable 465 feet. This throw required the biggest digital cinema projector that Barco makes, the liquid-cooled DP2K-32B, with an output of 33,000 lumens…Drive-ins were dormant for years, but with a little enterprise in a family-friendly atmosphere and new digital projection technology, this has the makings of a delightful old (yet very new) way to spend an evening. Perhaps the trend will be continue and come to a digital drive-in theater near you.
-Paul Berliner, from "Video World," PLSN, Feb. 2011
