3-D, Now One D Closer
That headline makes absolutely no sense, but I like it anyway.From CNN:
LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Hollywood took a big step Tuesday toward offering more movies in 3-D, announcing deals to convert as many as 10,000 more theater screens for the digital technology needed to accommodate the resurgent, eye-popping format.
Access Integrated Technologies Inc. said it had reached agreements with four studios -- Disney, News Corp.'s 20th Century Fox, Viacom Inc.'s Paramount, and Universal Pictures, which is owned by General Electric Co.'s NBC Universal -- to finance and equip the screens in the U.S. and Canada during the next three years.
The conversion will cost as much as $700 million, said Bud Mayo, chief executive of Access Integrated Technologies, which completed a first tranche of 3,700 digital conversions in October.
...The digital technology can also be used to show 3-D movies with the addition of software and hardware costing about $25,000 per year for each screen.
I keep beating the drum (or banging the gong) on this, but I think 3-D is the next big thing in gaming. It might take a decade, but the end result is too logical for us not to get there. And after that (and again, I know this sounds crazy), we'll be moving to some kind of console projector technology that will display in whatever area you define--so if you want to see a game in a 10'x10'x10' space, you can.
In addition to potentially adding 3-D capability, what today's announcement also means is that these upgraded theatres will all be able to show movies at significantly higher resolutions.
In other words, the spectacular quality of HD screens in homes has finally scared the industry into getting off their collective asses and finally caring about image quality again. I asked DQ Film Advisor And Nicest Guy In The World Ben Ormand about this, and here's what he said:
The reality is that what is really important about these systems is to do exactly what the theater industry did back in the late 40’s/early 50’s - create separation from the home viewing experience.
...Think back to when television started making inroads – theater owners and studios were terrified that people would stop getting off the couch to pay for something they could get for free. So they changed themselves qualitatively – abandoning the theatrical standard 4x3 format for widerscreen formats that TV couldn’t easily imitate, 1:85 and 2.35. They also quickly drove the switch to various blazing color formats – trying to leave black and white to the world of television. It worked – and Technicolor, et al became the standard.
It was the idea behind IMAX in the 80’s, so industry folks have seen this forever – but now it’s finally getting traction.
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