The holidays have been real good to RealD, with its 3D theaters accounting for more than $100 million from “Avatar” in the first two weekends and the company landing a licensing deal with JVC Kenwood for its RealD stereoscopic technologies in products such as LCD displays.
RealD is partnered with 19 of the world’s top 20 exhibitors and has an industry-leading 9,500 screens under contract and 4,800 screens installed in 48 countries with 300 exhibition partners. So it’s no surprise that theatres equipped with RealD’s 3D cinema technology have brought in more than $100 mil. of the more than $212 mil. in total domestic box office of “Avatar” since it debuted on Dec. 18.
Last week RealD announced an agreement with JVC Kenwood Holdings, Inc. to license multiple RealD technologies including the proprietary stereoscopic RealD Format and other 3D technologies for integration in JVC 3D products including 3D LCD monitors. A few days earlier RealD signed a similar deal with Sony.
“We are confident this (agreement with JVC Kenwood) will lead to a dramatic increase in our 3D-imaging device business,” said Haruo Kawahara, chairman, president and CEO of JVC Kenwood. (Kenwood and JVC -Victor Company of Japan – merged in October 2008.)
“We look forward to JVC leveraging RealD’s three decades of 3D technology experience to capture the full capabilities of their unique 3D visualization products,” said Michael V. Lewis, Chairman and CEO of RealD.
The RealD Format is a proprietary version of a side-by-side 3D format that multiplexes a left eye and right eye 3D image stream into a single channel for delivery of HD-quality 3D content to any 3D-enabled display type. The RealD Format uses a unique set of filters and other technologies making it compatible with today’s HD infrastructure for high-quality 3D delivered via broadcast, packaged media or the Internet.
One of the product lines to integrate RealD 3D technology will be JVC’s 3D LCD displays utilizing Xpol polarizer and passive circular polarized 3D eyewear, offering a flicker-free HD 3D experience.