A small group of Travel Adventure Cinema folks saw the future of small-screen 3D on a visit to the Beverly Hills headquarters of RealD PRO, the global leader in 3D technology.

We liked what we saw, but most agreed our 3D future was just that—in the future, perhaps a year or more away. With technology moving at the speed of light, however, that estimate could be wildly agley. However, 3D Travel Adventure film specials could do wonders for our field’s box-offices.

 The star of the demo, staged at RealD’s international headquarters in Beverly Hills, was the new LightspeeD DepthQ stereoscopic projector, billed as the world’s first portable WXGA High Def 3D projector. Designed for smaller venues, it uses the latest DLP technology and has 2000 ANSI lumens, a resolution of 1280×720 and a 2000:1 contrast ratio. The projector, capable of 120 frames per second, was co-developed with InFocus and costs $6,000.

 Here’s how RealD PRO’s small-venue 3D system works:

 ❋ When  3D content is fed to the projector in full-resolution, frame-sequential format, the RealD  LP (for linear polarizing) screen is placed in front of the projector lens to allow the content to be seen in 3D by  by polarizing right-and left-eye images. 

❋ To see those images, however, viewers must wear the company’s passive 3D eyewear, which are comfortable, affordable and reusable. The low-cost eyewear and the DepthQ HD 3D projector are perfect  for medium to large audience presentations. These passive eyeglasses are similar to the ones worn in RealD PRO’s big theater system. The DepthQ HD 3D projector also works with RealD’s CrystalEyes 3 eyewear (electronic shutter glasses) without requiring a silver screen—good for small presentations, scientific and professional applications.

❋ The images projected by a 3D-enabled projector—such as the DepthQ, NEC 800 and the Christie Mirage HD—are suitable for special silver screens up to 17 feet wide—big enough for most of our auditoriums.  These screens are supplied by the Stewart, MDI or Harkness screen companies.

Kevin Faul, RealD PRO Vice-President Business Development, also demonstrated the company’s system used in movie theaters—to show such recent 3D films as Up, Monsters vs. Aliens, Coraline and My Bloody Valentine. Using different glasses, the group also saw stereoscopic images projected on a 3D-enabled television screen. Glasses again were required.

In the future, 3D will be even more omnipresent than it is today—where among other applications, it is used by NASA, in medicine, gaming, cinema, with more 3D feature films and animation  scheduled in the coming months. (DreamWorks Animation and Disney-Pixar already have announced that all their future animation will be 3D.) Also 3D on television and DVD will soon be commonplace. And everyone’s waiting for the ultimate  3D goal—watching  3D without glasses. That’s not as far in the future as you might think.

Attending the RealD PRO demo were Doug Jones, Ralph Franklin, Stan Walsh, Jackie Gillette, Bev Glass and this writer.

Tags: DepthQ 3D projector · Movie Screens · RealD PRO

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