Report: 3-D Movies Coming Home, Someday

Lee Stewart · 03-31-2009, 04:09 PM

Report: 3-D Movies Coming Home, Someday

Quote:

By Erik Gruenwedel | Posted: 31 Mar 2009
[email protected]

The proliferation of 3-D movies theatrically has given credence to a future market for 3-D content in the home without the need for special glasses, according to a new report.

London-based Screen Digest said there were seven films released in 3-D in 2008, a tally that will more than double in 2009 with 17 titles, including the just released Monsters vs. Aliens from DreamWorks Animation.

Another 28 movies in 3-D are due to be released in 2010, spearheaded by animation releases from The Walt Disney Co. and DreamWorks, which together account for more than half of the 3-D film release slate.

The market for 3-D home entertainment is predicated on the development of an autostereoscopic-based standard that can be piggybacked on Blu-ray Disc due to the format’s expanded data storage capacity.

Autostereoscopy is a way of displaying three-dimensional images that can be viewed without the use of special glasses. This method produces depth perception even though the image is displayed on a flat screen device. Three dimension visuals require twice the broadcast bandwidth of two-dimensional (standard-DVD) viewing.

“What 3-D offers the studios and pay TV operators is an opportunity to charge a premium for content, perhaps even more so than high definition,” said Marie Bloomfield, analyst at Screen Digest.

Indeed, Canadian manufacturer Spatial View this week at MacWorld Canada unveiled its 3DeeShell for the Apple iPhone. The application allows users to view 3-D content on the iPhone or PC without glasses.

Screen Digest said elimination of 3-D glasses would increase popularity of the format in the home, with the percentage of TVs sold with 3-D capability exceeding 10% worldwide by 2011, and 16% by 2015 with just over 2.8 billion units sold.

Without a standard, Screen Digest said just 3% of TV sales would include 3-D by 2015 or 500 million units.

“3-D in the home will therefore be a slow burn, remaining a niche business for the foreseeable future,” Bloomfield said.

At this week’s ShoWest in Las Vegas, 20th Century Fox Studios said it would ask theater owners to share in the cost of distributing 3D glasses, reportedly about $1 million per movie release. Fox July 1 releases Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs in 3-D.

The report suggested it might be 3-D games and not movies that take hold in the home first. Gaming is an early adopter market, with upgradeable consoles and software, and gamers are more willing to adopt peripherals such as glasses, all of which make it an ideal home entry point for the technology.

In other words, 3-D connoisseurs should keep the goofy glasses nearby.

http://www.homemediamagazine.com/3-d...-someday-15182

Lee Stewart · 03-31-2009, 04:26 PM

Panasonic has hopes for 3D movie home gadgets

Quote:

March 31, 2009

TOKYO—Panasonic Corp. officials expressed hopes Tuesday that technology for three-dimensional images will allow it to charge more for gadgets that have been plunging in prices.

The technology is growing in popularity at movie theaters. The Japanese electronics maker hopes to bring the technology into homes globally with 3-D Blu-ray players and 3-D high-definition TVs by 2010. Rivals Samsung Electronics Co. and Sony Corp. are also working on similar technology.

Three-dimensional video works by sending different images to the left eye and the right eye to create an illusion of depth. As with much of today's 3-D technology, Panasonic's 3-D TV requires the viewer to wear special glasses that rapidly shutter one eye's view, and then the other, synchronized with the image.

In a demonstration, Osaka-based Panasonic showed on a 103-inch plasma TV dazzling footage of the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony, in which rows of colorfully costumed dancers seemed to almost pop out from the screen.

The global slowdown has battered Japan's electronics makers, including Panasonic, which is expecting its first annual loss in six years.

Keisuke Suetsugi, a Panasonic manager, said gadget prices are falling rapidly, but 3-D features will help add value to products. Image quality has improved from previous 3-D technology, and Hollywood studios are sold on 3-D films, he said.

A host of 3-D movies are scheduled for theatrical release this year, including DreamWorks Animation comedy "Monsters vs. Aliens," which opened recently and pulled in well over half of its $59.3 million opening weekend grosses from 3-D screens.

Of some 36,000 theater screens in North America, about 2,000 are 3-D, according to Panasonic.

"Consumer reaction is good for this new technology," said Panasonic general manager Masayuki Kozuka.

http://www.boston.com/business/artic..._home_gadgets/

zip2play · 04-03-2009, 07:31 AM

Over the last 50 years the same story has come and gone and come and gone and come and gone...

The last go-round with 3-D Chuck and the Super Bowl Disney ad was something of a bust. Cutesy but instantly forgettable, and the glasses were tedious and seemed to give the feeling my right eye was being sucked out of its socket.

Best system was the old 1950's-1960's system with double images and polarized light.

As for creating an "almost 3-d" feel without glasses, it's all hype, the effect is never 3-D. Remember when they released Cinerama (gotta be old)...it was billed as giving a 3-D illusion...it didn't.

wildberry10 · 08-14-2011, 10:22 AM

i wonder...when will the time come when we can see real true blue 3D movies without the glasses?

lucacoleman · 09-12-2011, 10:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wildberry10

i wonder...when will the time come when we can see real true blue 3D movies without the glasses?

How about 3D contact lenses.? LOL. Anyway, I doubt that would happen anytime soon, but I do hope they make 3D tvs that doesn't require 3D glasses as some are uncomfy.

zip2play · 09-14-2011, 03:28 PM

I keep hearing the hooplah about 3-D and I enjoyed Avatar (for $12...matinee) but as for the TV experience, it is not gonna happen.
Look at Blu-Ray, as wonderful as the technology is how little Blu Ray content you can find on Netflix. How long will it take for 3-D to replace HD presuming HD ever really replaced standard Def?

Nobody likes to wear glasses and fewer llike to wear glasses over glasses. And for what, so some cheesy Disney animation can jump out at you and you say WOW...exciting for about 10 minutes, even if THOR throws a hammer directly at you.
Gimmicks like this are NOT what good cinema is about.

Glassesless 3-D? If it was going to happen it would have happened in 1952 with Bwana Devil.

09-14-2011, 03:28 PM	#6
zip2play Fireman, Save My TV Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Manhattan Posts: 1,470	I keep hearing the hooplah about 3-D and I enjoyed Avatar (for $12...matinee) but as for the TV experience, it is not gonna happen. Look at Blu-Ray, as wonderful as the technology is how little Blu Ray content you can find on Netflix. How long will it take for 3-D to replace HD presuming HD ever really replaced standard Def? Nobody likes to wear glasses and fewer llike to wear glasses over glasses. And for what, so some cheesy Disney animation can jump out at you and you say WOW...exciting for about 10 minutes, even if THOR throws a hammer directly at you. Gimmicks like this are NOT what good cinema is about. Glassesless 3-D? If it was going to happen it would have happened in 1952 with Bwana Devil. Last edited by zip2play; 09-14-2011 at 03:31 PM..

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04-03-2009, 07:31 AM	#3
zip2play Fireman, Save My TV Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Manhattan Posts: 1,470	Over the last 50 years the same story has come and gone and come and gone and come and gone... The last go-round with 3-D Chuck and the Super Bowl Disney ad was something of a bust. Cutesy but instantly forgettable, and the glasses were tedious and seemed to give the feeling my right eye was being sucked out of its socket. Best system was the old 1950's-1960's system with double images and polarized light. As for creating an "almost 3-d" feel without glasses, it's all hype, the effect is never 3-D. Remember when they released Cinerama (gotta be old)...it was billed as giving a 3-D illusion...it didn't.

08-14-2011, 10:22 AM	#4
wildberry10 My plasma is High Def. Join Date: Aug 2011 Posts: 6	i wonder...when will the time come when we can see real true blue 3D movies without the glasses?