[Variety]
…Taking a position that threatens to turn the theatrical 3D business upside down, France’s national film board the CNC has announced plans to phase out all silver screens from Gaul’s theaters within five years.
The bold move, announced March 7 by CNC prexy Eric Garandeau, essentially rules out one leader in the 3D exhibition market, RealD, as well as MasterImage and most Imax screens, as all use polarized-light systems that require silver screens. It favors competitors Dolby and Xpand, since both already meet the Association Francaise de Normalisation (AFNOR) standard for screens. …
At issue is the “hot spot” that appears on silver screens when they’re used for 2D.
The AFNOR standard says the dropoff in brightness from the center of the screen to the edge can’t be more than 20%. With a silver screen, the dropoff in brightness is typically much greater than that. All French exhibitors will have to meet the AFNOR standard by 2017. …
Gaul currently counts 2,519 3D screens, of which around 1,200 use silver screens. About 850 of those are RealD. The RealD technology dominates the 3D projection market in the U.S. and Canada. …
Among today’s 3D projection systems, however, RealD systems can deliver the brightest image, and low light is the biggest issue plaguing 3D in theaters. The CNC decision would force a tradeoff between today’s brightest 3D presentation and best 2D presentation. …
Read the full story here: http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118051270?refCatId=13