Opinion: Why I’ll be going to the movies for the first time in years
Hi! I’m Brad, and I’m a movie-holic. But I have a another confession to make: I haven’t stepped foot in a sticky-floored cinema in over two years. ...
Dolby Atmos can transmit 128 simultaneous and lossless audio objects to up to 64 individual speaker feeds. That massive sound field allows mixers to create three-dimensional soundscapes with pinpoint accuracy. When that group of hyenas closes in around the protagonist on the movie screen, you’ll hear the growls pressing in from around you, as well.
Carney says that during a clip from Mission Impossible 4, the theater-goers were “first engulfed by the sound of individual grains of sand and then viscerally experienced a car crash happening in front of us, flying up overhead, and landing behind us.” ....
I’m geeky enough that Dolby Atmos and higher frame rates can coax me back into your long lines and too-tight seats. Will I come back for a second go-’round? That’s up to you. Can you make me comfortable? Can you make going to the movies exciting again, an event I look forward to — a social spectacle? I sure hope so. Because even though I’m a movie-holic, no amount of technical wizardry can compensate for an uninviting atmosphere and sky-high prices. ...
See the full story here: http://www.digitaltrends.com/opinion/opinion-why-ill-be-going-to-the-movies-for-the-first-time-in-years/
Theatres showing Pixar/Disney’s Brave using the Dolby Atmos 3D audio system
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Active 3D vs. passive 3D: Which is better?
CNET reader Taher asks:
I'm trying to decide between two 3D TVs: A Panasonic that's active 3D and an LG that's passive 3D. LG has all these international certificates for the best 3D picture and claims it's full resolution, but you and others claim Passive 3D is half the resolution of real 1080p. Is there a way for me to really tell the difference between active and passive 3D?.
There sure is. ...
The bottom line
Sorry, no winners, only whiners. Both 3D methods are flawed in serious ways. Glasses-free (autostereoscopic) 3D, if it ever makes it mainstream, is going to have its own major flaws.
My advice? Figure out how much time you'll spend watching 2D versus 3D, and how far you're going to sit from your chosen screen size. If you're like most people, you'll be watching far more 2D, in which case I recommend getting the TV that looks better with 2D. If you think you'll watch a lot of 3D, passive might be better, but only if you're sitting far enough away (or your TV is small enough) that you can't see the "interlace" lines.
Read the full story here: http://asia.cnet.com/active-3d-vs-passive-3d-which-is-better-62216606.htm
Exceptional 3D boss defends glasses free 3D technology
In March, Danny Kaye, Executive Vice President, Global Research and Technology Strategy at Fox, said he believed glasses free 3D technology could stunt growth of the 3D format. Analysts Futuresource have said auto-stereo 3D TV needs a radical re-think and Toshiba’s recent launch of its 55” glasses free 3D TV for consumers has received very poor reviews. ...
Some may consider the viewing experience less than satisfactory, but we respectfully disagree because the whole industry is really making incredible strides to improve the technology with every new generation of products and solutions coming out. Reaching new plateaus in the next few years could very well see larger format options becoming readily available and the improvements. Furthermore, niche experience applications could quickly reach a state of near perfection and in due time, it might not be unfathomable to imagine glasses-free 3D entering the home in a big way. ...
Read the full story here: http://www.3dfocus.co.uk/glasses-free-3d-2/exceptional-3d-boss-defends-glasses-free-3d-technology/8716
Hobbit 3D puzzles to be released this year
Today, Wrebbit and Coiledspring Games announced their plans to release further Lord of the Rings and Hobbit 3D puzzles in time for The Hobbit film release in December 2012. These puzzles are able to be put together and stand without glue.
Wrebbit has previously released 3D puzzles that include a 400-piece Orthanc Tower (lair of Saruman), a 700-piece Edoras Golden Hall, and an 815-piece Minas Tirith Citadel. Coiledspring Games is now working on a line of puzzles inspired by the world of The Hobbit.
Read the full story here: http://www.examiner.com/article/hobbit-3d-puzzles-to-be-released-this-year
Director J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek Sequel To Launch In IMAX® 3D And Feature Key Sequences Filmed With IMAX® Cameras
IMAX Corporation (NYSE:IMAX; TSX:IMX) and Paramount Pictures Corporation, a unit of Viacom Inc., today announced that the sequel to J.J. Abrams’ 2009 blockbuster Star Trek, will be released in the immersive IMAX® 3D format on May 17, 2013.
Exclusively in IMAX, sequences shot with the extremely high-resolution cameras will expand to fill the entire screen and further immerse the audience in the vast dimension and adventure of this highly-anticipated follow-up.
See the full press release here: http://www.dailymarkets.com/stock/2012/06/13/director-j-j-abrams-star-trek-sequel-to-launch-in-imax®-3d-and-feature-key-sequences-filmed-with-imax®-cameras/
RealD To Have 2,000 Screens In China Following Deal With Stellar International
The 3D technology company says this morning that it will install its systems at 100 screens operated by SMI Corporation’s Stellar International Cineplex. “This agreement adds to RealD’s growing traction in the Chinese exhibition market where we recently announced four new exhibitors, giving RealD a total commitment of 2,000 RealD 3D-equipped screens in China,” says RealD’s Edman Chan. Last month RealD announced a similar deal with HNA Group to equip up to 500 screens across HNA’s new theater circuit. Stellar has 250 auditoriums at 40 locations in 20 provinces and cities. Exhibition technology companies are eager to capitalize on the fast-growing demand for movies in China — especially since February when the government agreed to relax trade barriers on U.S. productions. RealD competitor IMAX has also been moving aggressively into the market.
See the original post here: http://www.deadline.com/2012/06/reald-to-have-2000-screens-in-china-following-deal-with-stellar-international/
DDD rolling out 3D gaming in China’s Internet café market
3D solutions company DDD will soon start beta testing its TriDef 3D game conversion software across an estimated 144,000 I-Café sites in China after achieving record financial results. ...
DDD’s TriDef software is a 2D to 3D conversion utility which has been licensed to TV, mobile and PC manufacturers with TriDef capturing an estimated 85% of the 3D PC market during 2011. Intel, Sony, LG, Samsung and HP have all licensed TriDef technology.
The company plan to expand its glasses free 3D mobile and tablet business with TriDef Mobile and recently signed two evaluation agreements with customers who are creating 3D reference designs for 3D smartphones and 3D tablet PCs. LG also launched its second generation Optimus 3D Max glasses-free smartphone in March, which uses DDD's TriDef Mobile Android software for 2D to 3D video conversion. TriDef 3D is now integrated in one million units after the first 9 months of launch. ...
See the full story here: http://www.3dfocus.co.uk/3d-news-2/3d-gaming/ddd-rolling-out-3d-gaming-in-chinas-internet-cafe-market/8709
ESPN Gears Up for 3D X Games
A DAUNTING SET OF VENUESWhether they employ a pair of HDTV broadcast cameras on a T-bracket, or a “beam splitter,” each 3D camera is a complex marriage of optics and electronics. In the same vein, 3D cameras are less forgiving of fast pans and cuts than their 2D cousins are. “Shooting in 3D requires more finesse and care than 2D does,” Orlins tells TV Technology.
Thanks to their pioneering work in live 3D sports coverage, ESPN has become a veteran in shooting such events. As a result, the network knows what works. In this case, it is the same production setup that they used so successfully in Aspen for the Winter X Games.
Two years after the launch of its ESPN 3D channel, ESPN has nearly 200 3D events to its credit. But this doesn’t mean that 3D production has become predictable, says Phil Orlins.
Growing box office but stagnant domestic film business, new study projects
Movie ticket sales will boom 20% over a five-year span ending in 2016, but continuing revenue drops in the home entertainment sector will keep the overall U.S. and Canadian film business treading water, according to a new study byPricewaterhouseCoopers.
The consulting firm’s filmed entertainment outlook, set to be released Tuesday, predicts an acceleration over the next five years of trends with which Hollywood has recently been grappling. Those include growing digital revenue that can't keep pace with falling DVD sales and rentals, and faster growth of movie-related revenue in Latin America and Asia than in the rest of the world.
But a long-running trend of stagnant attendance at movie theaters will turn around as exhibitors, stung by consumers’ resistance to paying a premium price for 3-D films, will not boost prices as much as they have in the past, PricewaterhouseCoopers predicts.
See the full story here: http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-pwc-film-study-20120611,0,2023536.story