Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1595
November 2007, when Paramount Pictures released Beowulf in stereo 3D, the number of RealD theaters had grown to 900. Now, the chickens and the eggs—that is, the the- aters and the content—are quickly moving into place for a major revolution. Digital projection is the key to stereo 3D's theatrical success. e stereo 3D systems, such as those from RealD, that sit in front of the digital projectors control the dual images (left eye, right eye) with split-sec- ond accuracy. is has helped eliminate the headache-producing misalignments of left- eye/right-eye frames that can result when two sprocket-based projectors put images on screen (see "Supersized," January 2007). However, the slow adoption of digital projectors by movie theaters has slowed the adoption of stereo 3D. at's about to change. On October 1, a consortium of Hollywood Studios—including Disney, Paramount Pictures, Universal Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox, and Lions Gate— announced their pledge of $1 billion-plus to upgrade 20,000 North American movie theaters to digital projector systems. "Digital conversion is the major cost," says Joe Daley of MarketSaw.blogspot.com, a Web site focused on 3D movies. "Once that's done, it's a relatively minor cost for a theater to move to 3D." e digital projection installation project will unspool during the next three years, but already 1300 theaters show 3D fi lms, with RealD, the leader in this fi eld, boast- ing of deals in place for future installations that would bring its total to 5000 theaters. Further increasing the potential number of theaters is Dolby, which entered the picture in 2007. Dolby's stereo 3D systems, which don't require special screens but need re- usable polarized glasses, have now landed in 150 US theaters and an additional 350 around the world. And, just last month, Sony announced a 3D adapter for its 4- resolution movie-theater projectors that it plans to ship in March 2009. e 5000-theater number would be November 2008 11 Stereoscopy ■ ■ ■ ■ Director Henry Selick is using varying depths to dramatize story points for Focus Features' Coraline, a stop-motion animation created at Laika and scheduled for release in February 2009.