3D Tech

Last week, I attended a meeting at Stewart Filmscreen, where I learned about a new screen material called Silver 5D. It's a clever name, since this material is designed to work well with both polarized 3D and 2D images (3D + 2D = 5D).

Silver 5D preserves polarization, which is essential for passive-polarized 3D projection systems, such as those from LG and Wolf Cinema, but it has less gain than Stewart's conventional silver 3D material (2.5 vs. 3.2). Also, it exhibits a half-gain angle—the angle at which the brightness is half the value measured at the center position—of ±30° as opposed to ±22° with the standard 3D material. Other benefits include better white-field uniformity, less color shift, and less mottling. Unlike the standard 3D material, Silver 5D can be microperfed, and it can probably be retractable, though Stewart is still working on that.

As you might expect, Silver 5D is more expensive than other materials. All Stewart 2D materials are about $30/sq.ft., and the standard 3D material is closer to $40/sq.ft., while the Silver 5D material is $48/sq.ft. Of course, Stewart acknowledges that the new material is not the absolute best for 2D, but even though it's more expensive than other materials, it offers a less-expensive alternative to a dual-screen system for those without super-critical eyes. Silver 5D should be shipping in December.