G. Alan Brown
Colorado
Alan has been enthralled since a child with the power of communicating ideas and art through motion imaging. He can remember witnessing the age of the great 70mm theatrical road show productions, such as: ‘The Sound Of Music,’ ‘Lawrence Of Arabia,’ ‘Ben Hur,’ ‘Dr. Zhivago,’ ‘2001 Space Odyssey,’ etc. These productions would stay in one theater for 6 months at a time, or even longer. Whole families would travel hours from surrounding communities to attend, some repeatedly throughout a production’s engagement.
He also remembers the advent of color television and its cultural impact. Whole families, and even invited neighbors, would gather together around their color TV on Sunday nights to be introduced to ‘Bonanza’ by the NBC peacock.
A decade later would find him running 16mm film projectors for an independent biblical research organization for classes of up to 44 students. The program was of a single teacher on a small set, expounding for 42 hours over 3 weeks. Audience members’ lives were profoundly inspired and permanently changed in a positive way. Alan later trained other projectionists and learned to record live events on reel to reel audio tape. In college he served as a video camera operator, worked in video post production and audio recording. After graduation he became an avid home entertainment hobbyist, audiophile and witnessed the advent of videodisc and VCR delivery of prerecorded movies in the home. Soon came Dolby Surround decoders for consumers, large format projection TVs, and early home theater systems became a reality.
Joe Kane Productions developed the first AV system evaluation, setup and calibration program on laserdisc titled, ‘A Video Standard.’ Alan enthusiastically studied and digested the information it provided. This wonderful tool instructed technicians and home theater hobbyists how to use reference test signals and patterns to calibrate their displays and sound systems. Alan began seeking more technical articles authored by Joe Kane and others, while experimenting with equipment adjustments and various video displays, sound components and installations.
When Alan moved his family to Denver, Colorado in 1995, he pursued a career in custom home theater design and installation. He worked as a carpenter until offered a position as an installer with a custom home theater company in the Fall of 1997. One year later, he founded his own company, CinemaQuest, Inc., and sought continued formal training from manufacturers, distributors, and organizations such as: The Imaging Science Foundation, Joe Kane Productions, CEDIA, and THX, Ltd. Alan has been professionally calibrating video displays since his first ISF training, taught by Joe Kane in September of 1998.
In his second ISF class, taught by Joel Silver and Jim Burns in January of 1999, Alan recognized an absence in the home entertainment industry of anyone offering technologies and solutions for viewing environment issues. The viewing environment component is an essential consideration when designing any display system. Compromised viewing conditions can actually prevent the viewer from completely perceiving the results of a display calibration. He brought his first prototype of the Ideal-Lume video bias light to that class. Alan announced at the event that CinemaQuest, Inc. would specialize in developing products and services for reference video viewing environments.
Today, CinemaQuest, Inc. serves as the world leader in reference viewing environment products and solutions. Significant clients have included: the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Joe Kane Productions, the Imaging Science Foundation (ISF), DisplayMate Technologies, Microsoft Corp., THX Ltd., Industrial Light and Magic, Deluxe, Deluxe Digital Studios, E-Film, Cinram, Image Entertainment, Electronic Arts, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Universal Pictures, Factor 5 Studios, CNET Labs, Radical Games, High Moon Studios, West Post, Zombie Studios, Stewart Filmscreen, Audyssey Laboratories. He is an active member of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) and is sought for consulting services by architects, interior designers, home theater companies, program production professionals, display calibrators, home builders and consumers.
CinemaQuest, Inc. was founded by Alan to advocate for display industry standards and imaging excellence. It is this prevailing purpose that lies at the heart of why the invitation to become a Lion AV affiliate was valued.
The company specializes in the design and installation of custom dedicated home cinemas that deliver sound and image fidelity. Additional products and services are described on the company web site.
This form is for QUESTIONS ONLY. For booking, please go to the Book A Calibration page.