De Zwarte Doos isn’t just the name of the TU/e campus restaurant on Limbopad, but also of the movie theater in the same building. The movie program is organized by Studium Generale in collaboration with Natlab, the cinema at Strijp-S.

It was obvious that the room was due a facelift. “The old set-up – funded by Studium Generale at the time – had reached the end of its lifespan and was no longer up to date, and the screen had spots and imperfections,” says Lucas Asselbergs, head of Studium Generale, in a response by email.

The plan for the upgrade was developed in collaboration with Robert van Ginkel and Maurice Megens of Library and Information Services (LIS). LIS also covered the costs. The seats were reupholstered in fall, followed by technical upgrades in December and January.

One of the best

Movie buff Witold Gręda takes care of considerable portion of the screenings at De Zwarte Doos, as a student assistant for Studium Generale. He’s also a member of the committee that advises on which movies are to be shown – a combination of arthouse and popular movies.

“It’s very special for a university cinema to have such a good set-up,” Gręda lets us know by email. “If you ask me, De Zwarte Doos is now one of the best movie theaters in Eindhoven – maybe second to a few rooms in the big theaters. But the ticket prices at De Zwarte Doos are much more affordable, and we show more than just blockbusters.”

Subwoofers

What exactly does the new interior look like? The seats, which were starting to break here and there, were reupholstered and refilled where necessary, making them much more comfortable. Gręda: “And the screen was replaced by a much larger movie screen, which covers almost the entire wall, with an aspect ratio of 2.39:1. That is the classic ratio for movies that you really want to see on the big screen. Perfect for the movie Interstellar, for example, which we showed at the festive reopening on February 4.”

“The new movie projector is a 4K laser projector with a lot of power, which provides high color quality and excellent image sharpness. And then there’s the new sound system with speakers all around. The subwoofers make the entire room shake, dialogues are easier to follow, and you feel the atmosphere of the movies: as far as I'm concerned, the new sound really takes the cinematic experience to a new level.”