Today, the Dryden Theatre at the George Eastman Museum is one of a few theaters in the world that is capable of safely projecting nitrate films and regularly screens them to the public. Today, nitrate film projection is rare and normally highly regulated and requires extensive precautions, including extra health-and-safety training for projectionists. Acetate film manufactured during the era when nitrate films were still in use was marked "Safety" or "Safety Film" along one edge in dark letters. Nitrocellulose film base manufactured by Kodak can be identified by the presence of the word "nitrate" in dark letters along one edge; the word only in clear letters on a dark background indicates derivation from a nitrate base original negative or projection print, but the film in hand itself may be a later print or copy negative, made on safety film. Tournament / Arcade: To emulate the feel of a pro tournament, you can use Electric Blue felt combined with shades of black, grey, what is billiards and dark brown. Studies have shown that these gentle colors - the classic pool table green and Tournament Blue shades specifically - are very easy on the human eye. The wood board of the playing surface is nowhere near as heavy as that of a slate table.

With standard American-style pool tables rare, Chinese players made do with playing eight-ball on small snooker tables. A special projector certified to run nitrate films has many modifications, among them the chambering of the feed and takeup reels in thick metal covers with small slits to allow the film to run through them. Nitrocellulose was used as the first flexible film base, beginning with Eastman Kodak products in August 1889. Camphor is used as a plasticizer for nitrocellulose film, often called nitrate film. Goodwin's patent was sold to Ansco, which successfully sued Eastman Kodak for infringement of the patent and was awarded $5,000,000 in 1914 to Goodwin Film. Later that same month, many more reels and film cans of negatives and prints also burned at Edison Studios in New York City, in the Bronx; then again, on May 13, a fire at Universal Pictures' Colonial Hall "film factory" in Manhattan consumed another extensive collection. The crucial advantage cellulose triacetate had over nitrate was that it was no more of a fire risk than paper (the stock is often referred to as "non-flam": this is true-but it is combustible, just not in as volatile or as dangerous a way as nitrate), while it almost matched the cost and durability of nitrate.

Cellulose triacetate superseded nitrate as the film industry's mainstay base very quickly. 8, 9.5, and 16 mm film stocks, intended for amateur and other nontheatrical use, were never manufactured with a nitrate base in the west, but rumors exist of 16 mm nitrate film having been produced in the former Soviet Union and China. Disastrous fires related to celluloid or "nitrate film" became regular occurrences in the motion picture industry throughout the silent era and for many years after the arrival of sound film. The use of nitrate film and the looming threat of its fiery potential were certainly not issues limited to the realm of motion pictures or to commercial still photography. The use of volatile nitrocellulose film for motion pictures led many cinemas to fireproof their projection rooms with wall coverings made of asbestos. Those additions intended to prevent or at least delay the migration of flames beyond the projection areas. Even after film technology changed, archives of older films remained vulnerable; the 1965 MGM vault fire burned many films that were decades old.

Decades later, storage at low temperatures was discovered as a means of delaying these reactions indefinitely. That tragedy claimed 123 lives during the fire and additional fatalities several days later, when hospitalized victims died due to inhaling excessive amounts of smoke from the burning film, which was laced with toxic gases such as sulfur dioxide and hydrogen cyanide. For this reason, immersing burning film in water may not extinguish it, and could actually increase the amount of smoke produced. Triacetate remains in use for most camera negative stocks because it can be "invisibly" spliced using solvents during negative assembly, while polyester film is usually spliced using adhesive tape patches, which leave visible marks in the frame area. Also, polyester film is so strong, it will not break under tension and may cause serious damage to expensive camera or projector mechanisms in the event of a film jam, whereas triacetate film breaks easily, reducing the risk of damage. The cue ball will (usually) be the only ball that makes contact with your Pool cue.