P3D Re: Polarized 3-D

[Greg Kintz <gkintz@xxxxxxxx>]

Bob wrote:

> why hadn't this method caught on with many movie theaters 
> across the U.S.- not just two (or three) places.

There's a couple of reasons why polarized 3-D doesn't have the
ability to run at various "midnight movies", revival theaters,
social events, etc. Many of the 1st 3-D films in the 1950's
required duel projectors. Soon after, single strip 3-D prints
were made avialable. The problem being is there are now various
single strip formats which require different 3-D lenses!
see Alexander Klein's great webpage for details on these lenses:
http://www.stereoscopy.com/3d-movie-magic/index.html
The projection screen for polarized 3-D must also be silver. This
factor (along with a shortage of 3-D glasses) limited the 1st
major 3-D release in the 1980's ("Comin At Ya!"), over 15 years
ago. How many theatrical silver screens now remain is unknown.
(Anyone?)
Anaglyph (red/blue) 3-D, on the other hand, can be projected like
any standard 2-D film. One only needs red/blue glasses, which can
be made cheap. These were deciding factors for Universal when it
re-released "Creature From the Black Lagoon" & "It Came From Outer
Space" in anaglph 8 & 16mm in 1972. Ditto for New Line Cinema for
Nightmare on Elm Street 5's 3-D ending.
There are revival & art theatres out there that do recognize the
advantages of polarized 3-D, and some even go through the trouble
and try and do it right! See Andrew Woods 3-D festival review:
http://info.curtin.edu.au/~iwoodsa/3dmovie/reviews.html

 Hope this helped!

    -Greg-


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