RealD Projects $200 Million IPO

Jim here. $200 million is a nice round figure and suitably impressive for the 3D projection juggernaut. In its press release revealing the intention on pursuing an Initial Public Offering (IPO) of corporate stock, RealD pegs its technology pervasiveness at 5,300 theaters in 51 countries. Not bad.

On the financial side (which becomes extremely transparent during occasions like this and going forward if they finalize), the numbers point at a loss of $28.8 million last year on revenue of $96 million.

JP Morgan and Piper Jaffray are underwriting the offer.

Impressive piece of news. RealD intends on paying off debt and may relocate funds elsewhere. I think it is a brilliant move as the future of 3D is clearly exploding. Love that JP Morgan is yet again involved on the financial side of a 3D endeavor. They also secured the $700 million for the digital screen rollout which in turn enables 3D deployments.

What's that? When is MarketSaw's IPO? I have an IPOd... Does that count? :-)

RealD is a sponsor of MarketSaw.

3D Shorts: Taylor Lautner As STRETCH ARMSTRONG; JP Morgan Finally Gets That $700m For Digital Rollout; Realtime 2D To 3D Conversion Tech?

Jim here. S3D news is coming fast and furious (HEY! Time for that franchise to go 3D too!) and I've got 3 more breaking stories for you!

First up, Troy Lautner has just been cast in Universal's STRETCH ARMSTRONG which is a property of Hasbro. The movie is now slated for a S3D release in March 2012. Brian Grazer (AMERICAN GANGSTER) is producing with Steve Oedekerk (BRUCE ALMIGHTY) writing.

This Lautner guy is SUPER busy. He certainly is pushing all the right buttons on his career. Of course S3D is his wisest decision yet! :-)

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Second, the LATimes reports that JP Morgan has FINALLY secured nearly the entire $700 million for the digital rollout of screens across the country. 12000 screens are said to be targeted for the upgrades, which are then able to be outfitted for S3D.

This has been a long time coming. Glad we are almost there!

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Third, Himax Technologies, Inc. claim that they have a real time 2D to 3D conversion solution. Apparently the tech can be applied to TVs, notebook PCs, monitors, digital photo frames, digital cameras, projectors, cell phones, STBs and game consoles.

Dr. Linkai Bu, Chief Technology Officer of Himax Media Solutions: "Our 2D to 3D conversion solution can be easily implemented in a number of hardware platforms, such as Notebook PCs and TVs. Our solution is compact and effective in performing real-time 2D to 3D conversion. Our unique algorithm which utilizes human visual perception characteristics, not only reveals more 3D details, but also offers a more comfortable and enjoyable viewing experience. Several of the world's first-tier PC makers and TV manufacturers are highly interested in adopting Himax's 2D to 3D conversion solution as they believe it will not only help accelerate consumer adoption of 3D displays, but also be one of the key differentiators for their new generation PCs and TVs, some of which are expected to hit the market in the second quarter of 2010, at the earliest."

Himax is filing worldwide patents in relation to this innovative 2D to 3D conversion solution.

2D to 3D real time conversion is one of the holy grails of S3D. It would allow for any legacy input to be pushed into S3D applications. I have NOT seen this technology in action, and therefore I cannot say with certainty it is an elegant solution for real time 2D to 3D conversion. However, if they prove to be successful in their claims, it may become a viable alternative to pure S3D content and consumers will be able to use their existing 2D media and enjoy with their new 3D equipment.

$525 Million For Digital Conversions! 500 Screens A Month To Be Converted In 2010

Jim here. According to THR, JP Morgan is stepping up to the plate with $325 million in bank syndication and $200 million from equity based contributors (including the theatrical chains) to fund a massive rollout of digital and therefore subsequent 3D screens.

As many of you know, there was a lot of movement toward digital deployments in the previous two years but the credit crunch hampered any real movement. Yes, there was some digital screens converted (chains did it themselves to the tune of ~$60 million and the promise of getting that money back) and up to 2000 of those are now 3D, but the progress was much slower than what was needed.

Now we will see some real action. How about 2500 3D screens by the end of 2009? Sounds much better. Digital Cinema Implementation Partners (DCIP) will help funnel the new funds to the chains and get the deployments rolling again.

Think Fox is happy with the announcement? Oh yes: "As far as Fox is concerned, the sooner the better," Fox distribution president Bruce Snyder said. "More units should be out there for both Thanksgiving and Christmas, and time's a-wasting."

DCIP plans to convert ~500 screens a month to digital (and subsequently a portion of that to 3D) to get 12,000 to 13,000 digital screens in place by the end of 2010. Almost double the amount today (~7,000).

AWESOME NEWS! Finally some real action. The money should be available in November and hopefully we can get some action in time for AVATAR in December. I think it is in the best interest of everyone to make that happen!