3D眼鏡 拉開電影業的新戰線 - 電影院

http://city.udn.com/50132/3807666?tpno=0&cate_no=0

紐時摘譯：3D眼鏡 拉開電影業的新戰線
Next Front in Movie Wars: 3-D Glasses

By Eric A. Taub

While the blue-skinned Na’vi are shooting arrows out of the screen toward
the audience in the 3-D movie “Avatar,” another battle is being fought in
the theater – over the goofy-looking glasses that moviegoers must wear to
see the three-dimensional effects.

當3D立體電影「阿凡達」中藍膚納美人的箭射出大螢幕，朝觀眾飛來時，
電影院裡還有另一場戰役也在同時進行，參戰的是觀眾要看到3D立體效果非戴不可、
看起來很搞笑的眼鏡。

Four companies are fighting with three different technologies. Each of them
is more advanced than the paper glasses worn to view “Bwana Devil,”
regarded as the first of the commercial 3-D movies in the 1950s, but all
work on the same general principle. Each eye sees a slightly different frame
of the movie, but the brain puts them together and perceives depth.

有4家公司正以3種不同的技術彼此競爭，1950年代影片「Bwana Devil」被視為
首部3D立體商業電影，若與當時觀眾戴的紙眼鏡相比，當今這3種技術都更進步，
而運作原理則大致相同。左右眼看到的影格略有差異，但大腦會將它們整合，
感知視覺深度。

About four million glasses made by RealD, the market leader, were worn during
Avatar’s opening weekend in the United States. RealD’s glasses use
polarized lenses and cost about 65 cents each. MasterImage 3D, another
vendor, uses a similar technology.

「阿凡達」在美國上映的頭一周，戴市場龍頭RealD生產的眼鏡觀賞這部片的
約有400萬人，RealD的眼鏡使用偏光鏡片，每副約要65美分。另一家3D眼鏡製造商
MasterImage 3D使用類似技術。

Dolby Laboratories, the company behind theater sound systems, makes glasses
that filter out different frequencies of red, green and blue. They cost about
$28 each. The glasses of the third company, XpanD, use battery-powered LCD
shutters that open and shut so each eye sees the appropriate frame of the
movie. Those cost as much as $50 each.

推動電影院音效系統的業者「杜比實驗室」生產可過濾出紅、綠、藍不同頻率的
3D眼鏡，每副要價約28美元。第3家業者XpanD的眼鏡使用電池驅動的液晶快門，
快門可開關，讓左右眼各自看到合適的電影影格。這款眼鏡一副要價達50美元。

Each company claims its glasses and projection-system technology is better.
Because glasses using one technology are useless in a theater using a
different digital projection system, the companies backing the three
technologies are scrambling for the upper hand while the 3-D industry is
still in its infancy.

每家業者都誇稱自家的眼鏡和投影系統最好。由於用某種技術的眼鏡在用不同
數位投影系統的電影院就派不上用場，在3D產業仍在起步階段的當下，支援這3種
技術的幾家業者正搶占上風。

James Cameron, the director of “Avatar,” is more often than not the main
marketing tool. He has endorsed RealD, says the company, which has about
5,000 screens using its system. But he, his wife and his production partner
were photographed at the premiere in Japan wearing XpanD glasses, which work
on 2,000 screens worldwide. Dolby says its glasses work with 2,200 screens,
but it has no Cameron connection.

「阿凡達」導演詹姆斯卡麥隆大半時候是主要的行銷工具。約有5千個廳使用其系統的
RealD表示，卡麥隆已經幫該公司背書。不過卡麥隆夫婦和他的製片夥伴在東京出席
阿凡達首映時，被拍到戴的是在全球兩千個廳使用的XpanD眼鏡。杜比說他們的眼鏡
有2200個廳使用，但杜比和卡麥隆無關。

The battle over what glasses patrons wear is a big deal because exhibitors
are convinced that 3-D, while seeming like a gimmick now, will lure movie
lovers away from their crisp high-definition widescreen TVs at home and back
to the theater. But Maria Costeira, the chief executive of XpanD, believes
that, “Eventually, we’ll see 3-D movies on airplanes as well.”

爭取贊助商戴自家眼鏡的市場戰非同小可，因為放映商相信，現在看起來還像花招的
3D技術，能吸引影迷捨棄家中清晰的高解析度寬螢幕電視，重返電影院。
XpanD執行長瑪莉亞‧柯斯泰拉說，她相信「最後我們會看到飛機上也放3D電影」。

The fight over the glasses may intensify because TV makers are now pushing
3-D TVs for the home as a way to increase their sales of more expensive sets.

電視製造商為了增加高價電視銷售量，正力推家用3D電視，這可能使3D眼鏡市場戰
更趨激烈。

Despite the marketing effort, when it comes down to choosing a 3-D system,
many exhibitors are making a decision based on one factor: Do they want to be
in the cleaning as well as the movie business?

雖然廠商努力行銷，但要選擇一套3D系統時，許多放映商是根據一項因素做決定：
他們願意在電影本業外也兼營清潔業嗎？

The expensive Dolby and XpanD glasses are going into a dishwasher after each
use, not the trash. Both companies recommend that theater owners clean them
in an industrial-grade machine. XpanD offers its theater partners disposable
wipes that it can distribute to customers along with their tickets to assure
them the glasses are germ-free.

昂貴的杜比和XpanD眼鏡每次用完都會送進洗碗機清洗，而不是扔進垃圾桶。
這兩家公司都建議電影院老闆用工業級洗碗機清洗。XpanD提供合作的電影院用過
即丟的濕紙巾，讓電影院連同票一起發給觀眾，向觀眾保證眼鏡沒有細菌，讓觀眾
安心。

RealD, whose cheap throwaway glasses were being perceived as a liability, has
addressed concerns of hygiene. Theater owners are now encouraged to ship back
the used glasses to the company, which will clean, repair and repackage them
for other theaters.

RealD的便宜、丟棄式眼鏡被視為不好善後的東西，RealD已著手處理衛生疑慮問題，
現在鼓勵電影院老闆把用過的眼鏡送回該公司，他們會清潔、修理並重新包裝，
給其他電影院用。

But the most important question remains unanswered: does one system create a
better looking 3-D picture than another?

然而最重要的一個問題依舊沒有答案：「有哪套系統創造出比其他家更好看的3D影像
嗎？」

Joe Miraglia, the director of design, construction, and facilities for
ArcLight Cinemas, a chain of luxury theaters based in Hollywood, said, “I don
’t think the consumer can tell the difference.”

好萊塢連鎖豪華電影院「聚光燈電影院」的設計、營建和設施總監喬‧米拉格利亞
說：「我不認為消費者分得出箇中差異。」

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

原文參照：http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/28/technology/28glasses.html
2010-01-19/聯合報/G9版/UNITEDDAILYNEWS 夏嘉玲
原文請見1月19日紐時周報十版左


--

/ \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \
口 口 口 口 口 口 口 口 口
Ｖ　　 Ｌ 　 　★　 　Ｃ　 Cs DN SA HEAT Ｄ　
囧總統 囧來恩 囧爾德 囧姆斯 囧奈特 囧東尼 囧肯 杜恩囧德 囧威司機
英囧

--