3D in Theaters (David's Blog)

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There are multiple ways to do 3D in movie theaters. My favorite is RealD because of the image quality and the potential of getting normal sunglasses that work in a theater. I saw Avatar in both RealD and Dolby 3D and could not tell a difference…both looked great.

Here’s a table to help keep it straight:

Company

Company	Technology	# of Theaters	Cost of Glasses	Can tilt head	Notes
RealD	Circular Polarization (passive)	5,000	$0.65	Yes	Polarized light reduce image brightness Requires special silver screen to maintain polarized light and reflect more light to make up for brightness loss during polarization Projector must be brighter than normal to address light loss during polarization Silver screen has more narrow viewing angle and issues with over-saturation in the center of the screen (NOTE: 2D movies may not look as good in 3D equipped theaters) Can get prescription glasses and sun glasses with circular polarization so you can wear your own glasses during movie/outside of theater Theater locator
Dolby 3D	Color Filter (passive)	2,200	$28	Yes	Works with normal screen, normal brightness Glasses can’t be used outside of theater Theater locator
XpanD	LCD Shutter (active)	2,000	$50	Yes	If something blocks the sensor on the glasses, the shutter stops I notice the flicker of the shutter glasses and get eye fatigue Glasses use batteries Glasses can’t be used outside of theater Theater locator

IMAX 3D uses either linear polarization (which means you *cannot* tilt your head), or LCD shutter glasses, depending on theater.

My biggest issues are…

Letting you tilt your head during a movie
Headaches from LCD shutter glasses

For now, I’m avoiding XpandD and IMAX 3D for 3D movies.

Much of this info is from this article.

Technorati Tags: 3D,RealD,Dolby 3D,XpanD,IMAX 3D

Posted on December 31, 2009 1:22 PM | Permalink

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December 31, 2009

3D in Theaters

Filed under 3D, Gadgets, Movies

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