As you probably know by now, 3D movies are all the rage in commercial cinemas these days. In most cases, however, these presentations require a special screen, and the image can't be larger than about 40 feet wide due to the loss of light that polarized systems inflict. To address the first problem, Dolby has developed a 3D system that can be used on any screen, and a new partnership with Barco addresses the second problem. Using two stacked projectors, the combined light output is enough to fill screens up to 70 feet wide.

This morning, I attended a press preview of the newly renamed Dolby Theater at the Hollywood and Highland complex in Hollywood, California. The official unveiling of the venue's new signage will take place this evening amid throngs of people—an extravaganza not unlike the Academy Awards ceremony that makes its home there—so I was glad to get a sneak peek beforehand.

Dolby has been working on an LED local-dimming system for LCD TVs for a couple of years, but now it's finally finished and ready for manufacturers to use in their products. It comes in two flavors—Dolby Vision is intended for prosumer, commercial, medical, and industrial applications, while Dolby Contrast is intended for consumer TVs. Pictured here is a 47-inch prototype implementation of Dolby Vision from SIM2. I also saw a demo of Dolby Contrast next to a Samsung 950 LCD with local dimming, and the difference was clear—the set with Dolby Contrast had better contrast and lower blacks, and the colors popped more.

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/headshot150.sw.jpg" WIDTH=150 HEIGHT=200 HSPACE=6 VSPACE=4 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>Recently, <I>UAV</I> contributor Michael Fremer sent me a copy of an e-mail containing an e-discussion he was having with Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA). The topic of their e-conversation was a petition by the Consumers Union (CU), a non-profit organization that publishes <I>Consumer Reports</I>. The gist of the petition is given on their Web site: