3D News Nuggets

News Nuggets:  Use them as fodder for water-cooler office chat or to wow dinner guests with your knowledge of goings-on in the entertainment industry.

One of the Big Topics in the business continues to be 3D.  The three-dimensional boom is having an impact on businesses from movie theaters to companies with a stake in the creation of 3D glasses - the former in a slightly less positive way than the latter:

• The Wall Street Journal reported last week that the quantity of 3D films prepped for delivery to movie theaters this year could overwhelm multiplexes ill-equipped to host multiple 3D showings simultaneously.  The story cites this interesting bit of data, "As of the beginning of the year, less than 10% of the U.S.'s roughly 40,000 screens were 3D enabled, according to the National Association of Theater Owners."

• The plastics market stands to benefit in a big way from continued 3D production.  As PlasticsNews.com (I know, who knew?) astutely picked up, today's 3D eyewear bears little resemblance to its predecessors, at least in substance.  Exit floppy cardboard frames and enter glasses cast in sleek plastic.  According to the site, glasses can cost as much as $50 each!  The post goes on to cite four major players in the 3D glasses game:
• RealD - disposable, recyclable and representing the low end of the cost spectrum at 65 cents each
• MasterImage 3D - offering single or multi-use models
• Dolby Laboratories - high tech and higher priced at $28
• XpanD - the Lamborghini's of 3D glasses, employing LCD technology and coming in at the $50 mark.

(Each of the companies are profiled in greater depth by The New York Times.  For the full story, click HERE.)