“Real D Cinema” is a new 3D stereoscopic projection technique that seems to be popping up everywhere at the moment. Long gone are red and green 3D glasses as they have been replaced by a new improved type- Circularly polarized glasses. RealD uses a single projector that alternately projects the right-eye frame and left-eye frame, and circularly polarizes these frames, clockwise for the right eye and counterclockwise for the left eye, using a liquid crystal screen placed in front of the projector lens. The circularly polarized glasses make sure each eye sees only “its own” picture, even if the head is tilted.

And it works! I watched Disney’s new animation “Bolt” recently, a great film about an Hollywood-Dog-method-actor who travels across America in search of his owner who he thinks has been kidnapped. Along the way an alley cat reluctantly joins him along with an hilarious hamster named Rhino. The Real D effects takes 3D animation to a whole different level, even with aspects of the film that we would normally take for granted, such as a character walking down a corridor, as the extra sense of depth and prespective brings the scenes to life. Future releases that will be using the RealD Cinema technique include- Monsters Vs Aliens, Planet 51 and UP.