RealD Expands Presence In China: Adds Bona Film Group

RealD said today that it has signed a deal to install 100 screens for the Bona Film Group of China. China continues to garner interest from Hollywood from multiple angles including production. Indeed the country has agreed to bring in multiple Hollywood movies a year and a large portion of those MUST be 3D. The Chinese have embraced the format and so it is a natural progression to see that RealD has stepped up their presence there.

RealD has also passed the 20,000 3D-equipped screen milestone back in April.

From the LATimes: "3-D technology gives moviegoers a more immersive visual experience, which takes the movie business to a new level,'' said Don Yu, chairman and CEO of Bona Film Group. "Bona strives for the highest industry standard, both in movie production and exhibition, which is why we selected RealD to equip all of our locations."

RealD already is supplying its 3-D technology to 650 cinema screens in China with commitments to add 1,400 more. Founded in 2003, RealD has grown into the world's largest licensor of 3-D cinema technology with approximately 20,200 screens in 68 countries.

The announcement is the latest among several deals between entertainment companies in the U.S. and China. On Sunday, Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda Group acquired AMC Entertainment, the nation's second largest theater circuit, for $2.6 billion.

Congratulations to RealD and Bona Film Group!

Source: LATimes

Sony To Start Shipping Passive 3D TVs? OLED Coming!!

According to Reg Hardware, Sony is set to start shipping passive 3DTVs and in fact are already doing so to China.

I looks like Berlin's IFA Technology Show in September will be the launching point of the sets in Europe.

Sony HAS NOT officially announced this development yet, but Noriaki Negishi (Deputy President of Home Entertainment, Sony) said they will be aggressively marketing the technology within 12 months.

He added: "Our engineers don’t really like [passive] because it has half the resolution of active shutter 3D, but consumers appreciate the convenience of passive."

I think this is a great move on Sony's part as their active matrix glasses (the bigger, expensive ones that hold batteries and do all the 3D heavy lifting) were tending to slow down sales. LG is having great success with their passive S3D TVs - so much so that Panasonic announced that they too are entering the passive market.

What's next for Sony? OLED (organic, plastic and flexible layers)! They will be shipping OLED TVs next year that are much brighter than LEDs.

Negishi on OLED: "2013 will be the year when we will really fight back with new technologies"

Personally I like the passive technology in that it is much more comfortable - especially for prescription eyeglass wearers. Also - no batteries to worry about. While it is true that the resolution is cut down due to the nature of the technology, I tend to subscribe to the fact that our brains will merge the two images into a higher resolution approaching full HD anyway. Somebody prove me wrong. I know it looks darn good. Add in OLED brightness and flexibility and we have a winner!

Thanks for the heads up Yves!

Source: Reg Hardware

iZ3D Expands 3D Monitor Rebates

Jim here. iZ3D has expanded their $50 rebate program to include not only AMD ATI Radeon Graphics Card customers, but also NVIDIA GeForce® graphics card customers as well.

From the press release:
“We’ve had great response to our $50 iZ3D monitor rebate from AMD customers and an equally strong chorus of requests for the same discount from nVidia customers that prefer to have the 3D technology inside the display instead of inside active glasses, “ states David Chechelashvili, VP Marketing for iZ3D, Inc. iZ3D’s approach to 3D places all the 3D technology in the monitor so that users need only wear passive polarized glasses. This enables more participants at a significantly lower price to enjoy 3D in ambient lit rooms without headaches, fatigue, or eyestrain.

The current rebate offer runs through June 15, 2009 making an iZ3D gaming display solution even more affordable for Mother’s Day, Father’s Day or as a graduation present. Rebates can apply to purchases online at iZ3D.com or at any retail store or authorized iZ3D online reseller. Terms and conditions apply. iZ3D has also added new features to its website including a rebate center where visitors can check for current offers and discounts.

“We value our 3D customers and want to make their iZ3D experience as satisfying as possible. Since our website outage we have been improving our website while preparing totally new web experience based on customer feedback for release this summer. Our goal is for our website to provide a 3D experience where consumers can get immersed in 3D through education, experience, purchasing, support, and socialization. We are also diligently working to provide cutting-edge customer service,” said David Chechelashvili, VP Marketing for iZ3D Inc.

For more information on the monitor check out iZ3D's website.

Availability and Pricing
The iZ3D 22-inch monitor has a MSRP of $399.00 USD and is currently available in the U.S. at Fry’s Electronics, Micro Center, and Altex Computers and at NCIX stores in Canada. Online retailers include www.staples.com, www.newegg.com, www.amazon.com, www.pcmall.com, www.criticalbuy.com, www.iz3d.com, www.walmart.com, www.buy.com and other online etailers.