You haven't seen 3D, even in a movie theater, until you've seen it through Runco's new D-73d projection system. And you probably won't ever see it since the projector costs $50,000. But if you happen to have that much spare cabbage laying around, you could buy yourself a 3D HDTV to end all 3D HDTVs.
First, the Runco projector doesn't need expensive battery-powered active shutter glasses. Instead, the projector uses the company's own take on the polarized glasses you get in a movie theater. Runco developed the Constant Stereoscopic Video system, which transmits continual full HD images to each eye, not the alternating left/right images flashed in plasma and LCD 3D HDTVs.
Get rid of that almost subliminal left/right shuttering, and you get the smoothest and least eye-fatiguing 3D I've ever experienced — as close to what you see in the real world as you can get. Runco showed around 20 minutes of 3D clips (an Alice in Wonderland trailer, footage from a 3D documentary on the Grand Canyon, Tiger Woods lining up and missing a putt at the Masters, a long clip from Monsters vs. Aliens, and a long trailer for Avatar) and when the lights came up, my eyes felt nearly as rested as if I'd been napping.
Runco has imbued the D-73d with lots of other proprietary technology including lampless LED projection illumination that goes on instantly and eliminates standby mode, and a system to maximize brightness to compensate for the inherent loss of brightness in 3D when you slip on the dark 3D glasses. And, boy, were the images bright and sharp, with inky blacks and deep contrast (what would you expect for $50,000?), blacks deep enough to eliminate visible letterboxing bars. The company also is partnering with screen makers to optimize their wares for Runco's flicker-free 3D.
For your $50k you get six pairs of vanilla polarized glasses; there'll be other fancier designs, prescription models, children sizes and even nerdy clip-ons available when the projector goes on sale later this year. Prices for these extra glasses are yet to be determined, but I'd imagine they'll be priced at a fraction of what active-shutter glasses cost, and don't need batteries.
And don't worry about the wires you see trailing from the projector in the picture — they'll be integrated into the massive unit by the time you sell your children to buy it.
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