How does a cinema projector work?

A Maltese cross that stops the film 24 times a second, a shutter that flashes every frame twice, and a chip with 9 million tilting mirrors. A 35 mm projector pulls film from a platter through a gate. A digital cinema projector splits lamp or laser light into red, green and blue, one DLP chip each.

Read how it works: How does a cinema projector work? · The history of the cinema projector · More boxes on Glassbox

Chapters in this interactive model

1. Inside a 35 mm film projector: A Maltese cross stops each frame, a spinning shutter flashes it twice, and a xenon lamp throws it 30 metres.
2. Millions of tiny tilting mirrors: A digital projector makes each pixel with a mirror smaller than a hair’s width, flipping thousands of times a second.
3. Throw, screen size and brightness: The lens decides how big the picture is. The screen and the lamp decide how bright it looks.
4. Two pictures, one screen, two eyes: A 3D film is two films at once. The glasses decide which eye gets which picture.
5. A film in a box of files, locked with a key: Films arrive as a Digital Cinema Package, and they only play when the key says so.
6. Giant screens, faster frames and screens that glow: IMAX, premium formats, high frame rates, lasers, LED walls, and the changing Indian cinema hall.