Dolby Atmos sound and Imax giant screens have been staples of the- aters for a while now, upping the audience experience. But there’s another player giving cinemagoers quality viewing: HDR by Barco. HDR projectors use Lightsteering technology, which has deeper blacks and more vibrant colors. Simply put, audiences see every detail and feel each moment, making the cinematic experience even more immersive.
Barco notes that Lightsteering redistributes existing light instead of demand- ing more, enhancing contrast and brightness without consuming more energy (and adding to energy bills). It says that a Lightsteering projector “can achieve six times brighter highlights and five times deeper blacks, resulting in a simultaneous contrast ratio of 60,000:1, which is 30 times higher than a normal cinema projector.”
The 92-year-old company, headquartered in Belgium, is rapidly growing. Last year, it expanded to 50 screens. It’s got its sights on post-production in India, and it’s got a stacked slate for 2026.
Gerwin Damberg, executive vice president of cinema at Barco, spoke with Variety to explain what HDR by Barco is and why audiences should be excited about this emerging format.
What is HDR by Barco?
It’s a powerful tool for filmmakers, colorists and directors of photography to take their vision for the story they want to tell and bring it to the big screen.
HDR by Barco is projection technology that is like giving filmmakers a palette of colors, highlights and tones to play with. It’s way brighter and colorful and darker. As the artist captures the data, the cinematographer frames the shot perfectly, and they can paint the picture they want to. The technology moves into the back- ground, and you’re being drawn into the story the director wants to tell.
How does HDR by Barco compare with the Imax or Dolby Atmos experience?
There are a number of premier formats. Imax is immersive due to the size of the screen, and Dolby has a number of theaters, but Barco technology today, I think, is the brightest of all of those. It’s the first true projection technology. HDR stands for High Dynamic Range and that’s the ratio of the brightest pixel you can produce.
How many HDR by Barco screens are there?
We did a small pilot program early last year, and we officially launched commercially at CinemaCon last year. We grew to 50 HDR locations by the end of last year. We’re rapidly expanding. We started in the U.S. and expanded into new regions, including Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and India. With India, it’s the first market we really went into after Hollywood with dedicated post-production spaces. If we are going into a country with this unique experience, we want to make sure that you can see all the content that’s relevant for that region, and that includes the big blockbusters.
What are some titles that you have coming out?
We’re celebrating the 50th title, “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie.” We also have “The Mummy,” “Michael,” “Mortal Kombat,” “Supergirl” and “The Devil Wears Prada 2.” It’s pretty solid given how much work and care goes into each of these titles as it’s regraded, remastered or sometimes even from scratch, made for HDR by Barco. It’s good that we get that many titles going because what we want to do is make sure that the exhibitors and the moviegoers can see every title in HDR by Barco. They should have a choice.
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