Re: [photo-3d] Legitimizing 3D Movies

["John A. Rupkalvis" <stereoscope@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

The original Kodak Ektalite screen was 40 inches (about one meter) square.
They can still be found occasionally.  The main problem is finding one that
is not damaged.  The surface was very delicate, and easily scratched,
dented, stained, or otherwise marred.  Even fingerprints would leave a
permanent mark if not removed promptly, and the removal itself was difficult
to do without scratching or otherwise doing further damage.

Some people actually spliced two or more of these screens together to get a
larger surface.  Unfortunately, at least in the ones I have seen, the
dividing line was all too visible.

After manufacturing this screen for a while, Kodak decided to leave this to
others.  They licensed the proprietary process to other companies, who then
manufactured their own versions.  These were usually somewhat larger, and
made in a 1.33:1 aspect ratio rather than square.  The market was front
projection video.  Early video projectors did not put out much light, and
these very high gain screens met a market need until video projectors became
brighter.

The largest such screen I had seen measured about 7-1/2 feet high by about
10 feet wide.  This was about the largest practical size for a non-permanent
rigid screen, as anything larger could not be moved through a doorway, even
the large doors in the industrial buildings where these were used.

JR

----- Original Message -----
From: "Herbert C Maxey" <bmaxey1@xxxxxxxx>
To: <photo-3d@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: <photo-3d@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, October 26, 2000 2:42 AM
Subject: Re: [photo-3d] Legitimizing 3D Movies


> >>Don Stewart (Founder of Stewart Filmscreen) told me that he and three
> others
> >>put together a spin-off company to promote the Torus screen (dual
> curved)
> >>which included a nondepolarizing silver surface.
>
> Eastman Kodak once offered a screen that was also slightly curved. It was
> called an Ektalite Screen, and without any doubt, this was the finest
> screen I ever saw. A coworker bought one and tried for as long as I could
> remember to locate another one. As I recall they were quite small.
>
> Bob
>
>
>
>