"Pricing of XpanD glasses is on a sliding scale by volume, with each pair offering an estimated 2,000 hours of use. Costeira estimates that a 150-seat auditorium can be equipped for less than $15,000. That's the entire cost to the exhibitor, with no need to add projector filters or file server software, as with RealD or Dolby.
Dolby's Haun said the San Francisco-based company is "very pleased" with its competitive posture, even though just 500 of its 2,800 global screens are located in the U.S. and Canada.
"In a little over two years,we've gone from no market share to about 30% market share worldwide,"she says. "We're very strong in Europe."
Dolby's non-polarized glasses are free from any "ghosting" problem sometimes associated with theRealD system. Critics claim the latter system can also suffer from "hot spots" when 2Dimages are projected onto silver screens.
In contrasting experiments, RealD has been testing reusable eyewear, while Dolby might add disposables -- though the latter's throwaway glasses wouldn't require a silver screen. For now, Dolby touts its reusables as the greener alternative.
"Our glasses don't create millions of pounds of waste," Haun boasts. "They can be reused hundreds or even thousands of times."...Carl DiOrio
Copernicus has left his trace in our history as a clairvoyant man of science. To see his face makes him closer to us as would a picture taken when time travelling.
