SCHOTT solutions no. 1/2012 > Digital Projection

Almost like real life: the combination of digital high-end projection and 3D filter glasses creates a spatial illusion inside a 3-D theater. The efficiency of the optical imaging system is what counts here. Photo: BARCO
The Fascination of
Digital 3-D Cinema
SCHOTT offers components for advanced, high-intensity projectors of the third dimension.
Oliver Hahr
This isn’t a movie people watch, but rather experience.” The media as well as audiences euphorically celebrated James Cameron’s 3-D epic film “Avatar – Return to the World.” The fantasy spectacle has raked in 2.8 billion dollars since it premiered on December 17, 2009. It already ranks as the single most successful movie of all time by far. 25 new 3-D movies followed in 2010 and 47 in 2011. This year, digital 3-D versions of Star Wars, Titanic and Ice Age will most likely fill the more than 50,000 movie theaters all over the world that already offer digital 3-D experiences – twice as many as last year. “In 3-D presentations, two slightly different images are supplied from different camera perspectives – one for each eye,” explains Tim Sinnaeve, Market Director Digital Cinema at Barco N.V. This Belgian technology firm is one of the world’s leading companies in the area of professional visualization products. “The images are usually projected onto the screen on an alternating basis at a speed of 144 hertz. This is faster than the eye can perceive. The glasses that need to be worn while watching a 3-D movie filter the images in such a way that only the appropriate perspective reaches the left or right retina and thus creates the impression that this area is real inside the brain.” he adds.

SCHOTT N-BK7® glass is used to manufacture color filter prisms for digital projectors. These can be used to project films onto the screen in up to 35 million colors. Photo:SCHOTT/C. Costard
In order to meet these demanding requirements, Barco is using SCHOTT N-BK7® for color filter prisms that divide the white light of the lamp into the color components red, green, and blue (RGB) and direct it onto optical semiconductors using light guides made of the same material. The light has to travel through the material for distances of 150 mm and more, making SCHOTT's materials key elements for the quality of the projector. Then, the so-called Digital Mirror Devices (DMD; see end of page) reflect the light onto the lens of the projector with the help of up to two million individually steerable micromirrors. This enables the movie to appear on the screen in front of the viewing audience incredibly clearly in 35 trillion colors. “SCHOTT N-BK7® is highly homogenous and offers high light yield. It is especially suited for lenses and prisms of cameras and projectors,” explains Ralf Reiter, Director Development and Applications at SCHOTT Advanced Optics in Mainz. “For further optimization, we have developed special versions of a variety of different glass types that offer extremely high transmission (HT). SCHOTT N-BK7® HT, for instance, delivers minimum transmission of 99.6 percent at a wavelength of 400 nm and a thickness of 25 mm. Within the visible spectrum range of between 400 and 700 nm, the absorption coefficient is three times lower than with standard N-BK7. This means less heat is generated and the risk of image errors is much lower. This also brings a significant improvement in the image quality of these types of projectors” he notes. <|

Foto: : BARCO
“Digital high-end projectors display pin sharp images on a surface more than 200 square meters in size.” “
Tim Sinnaeve, Market Director Digital Cinema, BarcoSCHOTT website
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