Emmy and Peabody award-winning director — and home theater aficionado — Barry Sonnenfeld delivered the opening keynote Thursday morning at CEDIA Expo 2024. He shared his insights and passion for home cinema and audio technology, along with some hot takes on the issues he sees in the industry.
“I love what you guys do, I love home theaters. I don’t think I’d ever buy a place without a home theater, or I would always put one in,” Sonnenfeld told attendees before addressing his top three concerns from the perspective of a customer and filmmaker.
“Just because you can add resolution, doesn’t mean you should,” Sonnenfeld began, as he expressed his disappointment in studios forcing 4K on filmmakers purely for the sake of marketing. “Advances in technology, programming, and software are not always for the better. “Don’t fix what isn’t broken, please!”
Sonnenfeld argued that everything he doesn’t like about 4K will be worse in 8K. “Actor’s faces will be too sharp, you’ll see the makeup, everything will moire — except sports. If shooting and broadcasting sports in 8K means I can finally see a hockey puck go into a net,” he quipped, “I’m with you.”
Sonnenfeld didn’t pull his punches when it came to his opinion of HDR, either. “Technology is both good and bad and here’s the evil: HDR sucks. I don’t have to tell you how bad MotionFlow and CineFlow are, and I don’t even know why they’re on any television.”
Speaking to his second concern, Sonnenfeld begged for manufacturers and studios to finally find a way to fix sound sync, as he explained his ongoing evolution into a “sound guy” over the picture. “I look for the best sound theater now instead of the best picture. Sound has become incredibly important for me,” Sonnenfeld admitted.
“Finally, it’s all about service,” he concluded. “That’s what we remember with installers. I love my system but hated my installer. So, when the time came to upgrade, I didn’t go back to him, even though he put in a great system.
“If you ask me what I want from my home theater installer, overwhelmingly I would say service and education. I want an installer who will teach every person who lives in a house with a home theater how to use the equipment. You really have to educate the homeowner so that they enjoy the system.”
