Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: "3rd Party" 3D Glasses

This is topic "3rd Party" 3D Glasses in forum Digital Cinema Forum at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Jason Metcalfe (Member # 5739) on 05-03-2018, 02:41 PM:

I wanted to solicit feedback from the forum on experiences purchasing 3D polarized glasses from a "3rd Party" (read: Chinese) manufacturer rather than RealD. Anyone have a real horror story or have your experiences been relatively positive? We're looking at the passive circular polarized glasses for use with a RealD system specifically but I'd love to hear from anyone.
Thanks

Posted by Sam D. Chavez (Member # 1841) on 05-03-2018, 03:25 PM:

Certainly the Master Image glasses are very good. Don't know price relative Real D.

Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 05-03-2018, 03:34 PM:

RealD owns Master Image.

Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 05-03-2018, 03:58 PM:

And they all probably get them from the Chinese.

Posted by Sam D. Chavez (Member # 1841) on 05-03-2018, 04:34 PM:

At one point the Master Image lenses were better than the Real D ones were. Don't know if that is still the case. Does Real D use only Real D boxes cuz the ones coming to my favorite cinema are in Master Image boxes to this day.

Posted by Frank Cox (Member # 6258) on 05-03-2018, 04:58 PM:

Why would you use glasses other than the "genuine" Real D ones?

They are provided free of charge by Real D. So far, at least. I guess their per-ticket royalty covers the cost of the glasses as well.

So why get them anywhere else?

Posted by Stephan Shelley (Member # 8587) on 05-03-2018, 05:57 PM:

Not all are under Real D contract. Like those that went with master image. Real D does not get a cut from them. Where I work we do 2 projector 3D with static polarizers that came from master image.No contract with Real D.

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 05-03-2018, 07:59 PM:

There is another 3D service that uses the Real D technology, but it's a purchased system like Dolby and Master Image.

Volfoni

www.volfoni.com

This system also uses the circular polarization technique, requires a silver screen and uses any passive eyewear that works with circular polarization.

Please do a search for 3D Circular polarized glasses.

good luck

Posted by Stephan Shelley (Member # 8587) on 05-03-2018, 08:15 PM:

Volfoni is now being sued by Real D for Patent infringement as well.

Posted by Marcel Birgelen (Member # 6801) on 05-04-2018, 02:50 AM:

I'd choose something different than RealD every single day or no 3D at all, simply because of the business model of RealD. Their original business model was starting to fail because of the general decline of 3D, that's why they now try to squeeze every penny out of anything they can get their hands on.

Let's wait until they turn from just greedy to uber-greedy and take on something bigger than they can lift, something like Dolby for example.

Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 05-04-2018, 07:35 AM:

How would they take on Dolby? Their technology doesn't resemble Real-Ds (it is Infitec's). Furthermore, Dolby has essentially exited from 3D already. They have withdrawn their xenon based 3D and all that is left are the 6P laser, which brings it down to glasses (Barco and Christie have to make their own projectors and the glasses are different between the two brands). These are just for the Uber Premium theatres too, due to cost. So the market share had by 6P laser systems is going to too tiny.

Posted by Marcel Birgelen (Member # 6801) on 05-04-2018, 12:12 PM:

Yes, the color filter technology Dolby uses is an Infitec solution adapted to DCI. I guess Dolby has anticipated on the decline of the 3D market by simply retracting from it, with exception to their super premium offering, which might be a smart move. RealD didn't really have such an opportunity, since their whole 'raison d'être' is 3D.

I don't see any obvious way they could attack Dolby now, but those patent lawsuits are often about just frivolous details. The essence of stereoscopic 3D for example, using polarized filters, isn't patentable anymore, since that has been done for more than 20 years. So, you might see something like a lawsuit about something as trivial as just automatically switching between 2D and 3D shows in a special way. Just look about what kind of stupid little things most of those lawsuits are nowadays. Look at Apple v.s. Samsung for example, where most of the claims were about simple UI design elements like how to indicate scrolling past the end of a list of items, etc...

Posted by Andrew Carr (Member # 9264) on 05-09-2018, 02:49 PM:

Depth-Q polarizer and Millivision glasses here. No issues.
Millivision seems to have good quality products and have been easy to purchase from. We started using them after Master Image became unavailable. We also use them for our passive 3D setups.

Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 05-09-2018, 05:41 PM:

Note, for the time being, if one does want a Dolby 3D, non 6P, you can go the Barco Xenon route. The Dolby 3D kit remains active since it isn't sourced by Dolby. It cannot be used by the LP versions of the projectors, however.