| Editorial December 2007
New Frontiers in 3D: Movie Theaters Lose a
Potential Advantage
Several months ago, in "R.I.P.
Your Local Movie Theater," I suggested that movie theaters were in danger of
being made obsolete by home theater. Thanks to incredible home audio systems,
high-definition video formats, and hi-def displays, we can now enjoy at home movie
experiences that are considerably better than those at the theater. We can even have our
own theater-style popcorn maker and use real butter. In that editorial, I suggested that
one of the things that might help theaters distinguish themselves from home theaters is
3D.
Three-dimensional images in movie theaters can be very
impressive, and two 3D technologies are now being used there with some regularity. IMAX
theaters show some documentaries in 3D, but the real attractions are the occasional
feature films that get this treatment, such as The Polar Express, Beowulf,
and Open Season. 3D is easiest to apply with animation, as all the frames were
generated in a computer in the first place. Some special-effects features -- for example, Superman
Returns and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix -- have appeared in IMAX
theaters with 15 to 20 minutes of 3D footage. The IMAX system requires that viewers don
gray-tinted glasses with straight-line polarizing: vertical polarizing for one eye,
horizontal polarizing for the other. The glasses ensure that each eye sees only the images
intended for it. However, you must keep your head vertical or the 3D effect falls apart.
Disney Digital 3D requires a DLP digital cinema projector
and glasses with gray-tinted lenses that include circular polarization, which makes the
system relatively unaffected by tilts of the head. So far, only animation titles have been
released in DD3D: The Nightmare Before Christmas, Chicken Little, and
Meet the Robinsons.
In my experience, the IMAX and Disney systems produce about
the same 3D effect, but the huge screens and vastly superior sound systems of IMAX
theaters make IMAX 3D the state of the 3D art.
But in home theater, things change fast. At the CEDIA Expo
in September 2007, I saw many demonstrations of a practical home 3D system that I have not
been able to forget. Two in particular replay themselves over and over in my head: first,
a scene from Star Wars: Episode IV -- A New Hope, in which a small ship enters the
open bay of an Empire cruiser, followed by a storm-trooper battle inside the ship and the
appearance of Darth Vader; and second, a scene from Star Wars: Episode II -- Attack of
the Clones, in which Anakin and Obi-Wan use a speeder to chase a shape-shifting
assassin through the city. Neither film was ever released in 3D, but there they were, in
three glorious dimensions -- played from regular, standard-definition DVDs. Something
about this 3D system makes films on DVD seem more detailed than when viewed in standard 2D
style. It’s hard to know if the real-world results will be as perfect as what was
shown in the demos, but even occasional glitches would be OK with me to get sequences as
cool as the demos I saw.
One of the demos revealed that the system was able to
display family snapshots in 3D: normal digital photos shot with any digital camera can
become re-creations of the original location. Standard-def TV programming was also demoed
in 3D: any show you like, including sports. Again, all of this programming was originally
shot in standard 2D, yet there it all was onscreen in remarkably impressive 3D. A PC game
was also demoed in 3D; the results weren’t as impressive as with the other sources,
but more games are now being worked on to make them compatible with this system.
To get this 3D system in your home, you need one of 11
compatible Samsung DLP TVs that sell for $1300 to $4500 USD in screen sizes of 50" to
72" -- or one of three compatible Mitsubishi DLPs in 57" to 73" sizes. You
also need 3D shutter glasses (see below), the software, and a wireless emitter. These can
be purchased in bundles: $199 with two pairs of glasses, or $149 with one pair (see www.i-glassesstore.com/dlp3d-bundl-adv.html).
The emitter synchronizes the shutters in the 3D glasses with the PC software. You also
need a PC with a DVD drive, at least 2GB of RAM, a Dual Core processor, DVI or HDMI
output, and a graphics card that supports 1920x1080p. The PC runs the software and spins
the DVDs.
For each video frame on the DVD, the software generates
separate images for the left and right eyes, those images slightly offset to duplicate the
human system of stereoscopic vision, aka three-dimensionality. The shutters in the lenses
are synchronized with the left/right images generated by the software. The LCD panel in
the left lens blocks that eye completely when right-lens images are shown on the video
display, and vice versa. Like many new displays, the Samsung and Mitsubishi screens
compatible with this system are capable of producing many more images per second than
exist on the DVD, so the viewer experiences no sensation of flickering or jerky motion.
The glasses I tried at the CEDIA Expo weren’t very
comfortable -- the edges of the frames were rough and thin -- but that can be fixed by the
determined owner. But the lenses aren’t colored -- you see 100% of the color present
in the original programming. The lenses do have a bit of gray tint because of the LCD
panel in each lens.
It’s mind-boggling to think that you can now see
literally any SD DVD you might ever want to watch in 3D. I’m disappointed that this
system doesn’t yet work with high-definition sources. It would seem that if they can
process standard-def images and output them at 1920x1080, the same would be possible for
hi-def sources. Of course, HD sources would require from the PC more processing power,
more RAM, and an HD DVD and/or Blu-ray drive. I imagine all of that is not too far off.
If we can get great 3D at home, that’s one less thing
movie theaters can use to draw customers out of their home theaters. After all, you won’t
see Blade Runner, The Fifth Element, Grand Prix, or Barry Lyndon
in 3D at any movie theater I know of -- let alone Lost, Heroes, The
Tonight Show, Babylon 5, the NFL, or NASCAR. Once again, home theater can take
you places your local movie theater can’t.
...Doug Blackburn
db@hometheatersound.com |
