Park Ridge (NJ) – Sony said that it will begin installing 54 4K digital cinema projectors, each providing four times the resolution of 1080p, in U.S. movie theaters next month.

The first SXRD 4K systems will be going to AMC theaters in Dallas (12 screens), Indianapolis (14 screens), Riverside, Calif. (16 screens) and San Diego (12 screens). Sony will be installing both its SRX-R210 10,000  lumen and the SRX-R220 18,000 lumen unit, which provide a maximum resolution of 4096x2160 pixels and be used on screen sizes ranging from 42 to 60 ft.  

According to Sony, the high resolution will virtually eliminate artifacts in frames even for people watching a movie from the front row. Pixels are set an 8.5 micrometer pitch with an intra-pixel gap of 0.35 micrometers. Each of the roughly 8.8 million pixels is just about the size of the letter “e” in the Liberty Quarter, Sony said.

The SXRD technology was originally introduced by Sony through its “Qualia” brand of high-end home entertainment devices. In 2004, the company announced its first 4K projectors and the capability to display four HD movies next to each other from the same projector.

The 1200-pound SRX-R210 and SRX-R220 both are rated at a contrast ratio of 2000:1 and integrate xenon lamps as source of the projector beam. The 18,000 lumen projectors use a 4.2 kW lamp, the 13,000 lumen model a 3.0 kW lamp and the  8000 lumen unit a 2.0 kW model. Sony said that the projectors will consume on average 1.2 kW of power.

The 4K projectors are scheduled to go in operation in December.

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