[by Pamela McClintock, The Hollywood Reporter]

This summer will put 3D to the test, with some saying America’s appetite is waning because of the extra cost of a ticket.

Is the summer box office turning out to be a high-stakes showdown over 3D?

This week, debate erupted across Hollywood over the fact that a majority of moviegoers in North America chose to see Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides on conventional screens and not shell out the extra money for a 3D ticket.

That’s a first for a major studio tentpole. Usually, 55% to 65% of a film’s opening weekend gross at the domestic box office comes from 3D screens. For Pirates, just 47% saw it in 3D.

Some say Pirates is nothing short of a wake-up call and that the appetite for 3D is waning in the U.S. because of the extra cost of a 3D ticket. But others insist that’s not the case. One point everyone agrees on — more and more, companies must market the 3D aspect when plugging a movie.

Overseas, it’s a different story. The appetite for 3D is virtually insatiable in such territories as Russia, China and Brazil. That’s a big reason why the fourth Pirates film scored the biggest international opening of all time at $260.4 million.

Fueled by its foreign performance, Stranger Tides is expected to jump the $400 million mark at the worldwide box office on Wednesday, less than a week into its release. In the U.S., Stranger Tides opened to a perfectly respectable $90.1 million, although Disney would have liked to hit $100 million.

By its own admission, Disney didn’t heavily promote the fact that Stranger Tides was in 3D.

Paramount is taking the opposite approach with Michael Bay’s summer tentpoleTransformers: Dark of the Moon, which like Stranger Tides is the first title in its franchise to be in 3D. Last week, Paramount partnered with THR to host a conversation between Bay andJames Cameron, considered the godfather of modern-day 3D.

At the event, Paramount showed 18 minutes of footage from Transformers. Two days later, a 3D trailer of Transformers, which bows July 1, went out with Stranger Tides.

“Inside the U.S., people need to be convinced why they should see a movie in 3D,” one Paramount executive said.

Likewise, Warner Bros. is touting the 3D element in promoting Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, saying that fans of the franchise should “complete the journey in 3D.” UnlikeTransformers or Stranger Tides, Deathly Hallows wasn’t shot in 3D but converted after the fact.

The summer is full of other 3D titles, including Kung Fu Panda 2, which opens Thursday; Green Lantern; Captain America: The First Avenger; and The Smurfs.

“Because one movie didn’t live up to expectations, it’s too early to announce the demise of 3D. It just doesn’t make sense,” another studio executive cautioned. “If a pattern develops, then you say there’s been an adjustment.”

See the original post here: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/pirates-caribbeans-low-3d-numbers-191772

[Press Release]

The Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE) today announced the approval of a variety of new standards projects that are intended to help cable system operators deploy new products, reduce costs and provide services that comply with regulatory requirements.

SCTE announced the Engineering Committee of the SCTE Standards Program has approved the development of standards for: Stereoscopic 3D for Cable; Environmental Requirements for equipment to be used within cable facilities; and recommended practices for Emergency Alert System upgrades for Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) compliance.

Project approval is the first step in the standards process in each of the three areas.

“As the diversity of products available via and within cable has increased, our members have, under the direction of SCTE, aggressively sought to provide the industry with the standards that ensure seamless and cost-effective operations and rollouts of new services,” said Steve Oksala, vice president, standards for SCTE. “The projects currently in development are intended to enable operators of all sizes to improve their bottom lines through a combination of new business lines and improved efficiency.”

Designed to ensure that the cable industry is prepared to act on the widespread deployment of 3D, the stereoscopic 3D project has been designed as a two-stage effort. Phase 1 will define the video related formatting, signaling and encoding parameters for frame-compatible stereoscopic 3D (S3D), while Phase 2 will define requirements for full resolution stereoscopic 3D video systems.

The Environmental Requirements standard is the second document that is being created by SCTE’s new Sustainability Management Subcommittee to meet the industry’s need for more sustainability in the standards for the equipment used in cable operator facilities. It is intended to address such key areas as energy efficiency, recycling, air flow and quality, temperature, humidity, vibration and shock, electrical/power and electromagnetic compatibility (EMC).

The EAS compliance recommended practice is being designed to help small operators in particular to meet the FCC deadline of Sept. 30 for compliance with Common Alerting Protocol regulations.

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The Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE) is a non-profit professional association that provides technical leadership for the telecommunications industry and serves its members through professional development, standards, certification and information. SCTE currently has nearly 14,000 members from the U.S. and 70 countries worldwide and offers a variety of programs and services for the industry’s educational benefit. A prime example is SCTE’s Smart Energy Management Initiative (SEMI), an unprecedented effort to help cable operators leverage financial and environmental advantages of implementing Green strategies. SCTE has 68 chapters and meeting groups and more than 3,000 employees of the cable telecommunications industry hold SCTE technical certifications. SCTE is an ANSI-accredited standards development organization. Visit SCTE online atwww.scte.org. Follow SCTE on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/TheSCTE and Twitter http://twitter.com/scte.?

See the original post here:  http://www.scte.org/scte_standards_program_approves_three_new_projects_stereoscopic_3d_energy_management_eas_upgrades_targeted/?CategoryId=2

According to Stereoscopy News, “the Open Cable Stereosopcic 3D specification is available on eBookBrowse. However, we are not sure the approved text is exactly this one.”