Marchon, Oakley Ready Passive 3D Glasses Lineups For CES Debut

Fashion eyewear suppliers Marchon and Oakley each will use CES exhibits to show 3D glasses paired with a new generation of 3D TVs that don’t require active-shutter eyewear.

David Johnson, president of Marchon3D, told Consumer Electronics Daily that his company will deliver a range of 3D glasses in Q1 2011, including Calvin Klein-branded models, non-branded models for cinema sales and clip-on versions. “We're doing testing right now,” he said, including a sales model, displays, and point-of-sale systems. The 3D glasses will be designated as M3D lenses and have stickers for differentiation, he said. “We foresee having a separate display area, and we may have a 3D video monitor,” he said. He envisioned “specialized displays to entice the consumer to take a look.” The company plans prominent promotion, he said. “It will definitely not be just blended into the store environment,” he said.

Johnson said the company has been testing prescription 3D glasses, too, and expects that toward the end of Q1 2011, “you'll be able to go to your local eye doctor, he can test your scrip and produce a pair of 3D glasses for you.” In test trials, Marchon’s VSP Optics testing facility has “produced finished products” and is doing field tests before release to the public “to make sure all nuances are covered,” he said.

Johnson wouldn’t say which manufacturers the company will display with at CES, or which company Marchon will partner with for retail displays. In a quick sweep of TV makers, a Sharp spokesman said passive 3D glasses technology “is something Sharp is looking at but has no confirmed plans to implement at this time.” A Sony spokesman told us he had no information on a passive 3D-glasses model coming from Sony. A spokesman for JVC told us, “Right now, we have no plans for any additional flat panel 3D TVs beyond the one model currently offered by JVC Professional.” John Taylor, vice president of public affairs and communications for LG, acknowledged a TV for the U.K. market that uses passive 3D glasses but had no further details. He noted that in the U.S. LG is using polarized eyewear for its front projector launched at CEDIA and in new 2011 commercial displays for hotels and restaurants that will be launched this week at the hotel show in New York. A spokeswoman for Samsung told us the company believes that 3D active shutter technology “is the best way for consumers to experience full HD 3D” content in the home. She said the company “cannot comment on our 2011 product lineup.”

Johnson said Marchon will ship in January hybrid Calvin Klein photochromic 3D glasses that adapt to varying light conditions and can be used indoors for 3D movies and outdoors to block sunlight. The 3D/UV-resistant sunglasses will be sold within its existing distribution of opticians, ophthalmologists and lens wear outlets, Johnson said. The two series will be priced from $95-$99 and from $125-$150, he said. A less expensive line, without the UV-limiting photochromic technology, will be sold at theaters for $35-$40, he said.

Marchon3D glasses use circular polarization, which the company said manages each polarized lens in a 3D pair in a way that allows only the image intended for each eye to pass through the corresponding lens. Marchon said its circular polarization lenses allow viewers to tilt their heads without “a disturbing loss of 3D perception,” which can occur with linear polarization lenses, it said. Since there’s no circular polarization in the natural world, the company said, “our eyewear can be comfortably worn outdoors as sunglasses.” Johnson said the company has filed for several patents related to its 3D technology and received its first notice of allowance from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office earlier this month.

For lens makers, 3D glasses require “more coverage and more temple width,” Johnson said, to avoid “back-scatter light.” One of the complaints theater-goers have made about inexpensive glasses at the cinema and at studios centers is on light leaking in above the temple (arm piece) and from the sides. The light causes distracting reflections on the inside of the lens “that bounce back in the eye and can be irritating,” he said. Viewers have reported seeing “stars and ghosting,” he said. A curved lens like the one Marchon uses conforms to the shape of the eye, and a design with “slightly thicker temples tends to block light,” he said.

3D technology adds “challenges to the manufacturing process” of eyewear, Johnson said, because of the “unusual materials” introduced into the lens that allows content to be decoded. He said the process is “very delicate, the specifications are very tight and it requires a very technical innovative process.” Marchon has been working on 3D glasses for roughly five years, Johnson said, since it first made product for Chicken Little with RealD.

Marchon has been approached by “many companies to try and design active glasses that are less cumbersome and less costly,” Johnson said, but the company hasn’t been able to find a way to improve on glasses already in the market. “We're eyewear manufacturers, not computer component manufacturers,” he said. “We're not in development on that."

By Q2 2011, “there will be a number of alternative TV makers that will make additional passive TVs that our products will work comfortably with,” Johnson said, but he wouldn’t name the suppliers. He doesn’t think active 3D TV systems will go away “by any means,” but research has shown “consumers have issues with active glasses and their performance, their durability, and their power sourcing,” he said. Marchon’s polarized 3D glasses, he said, “are going to be a nice transition for a lot of people."

Oakley announced last week that its 3D Gascan eyewear will be available this month at select Sunglass Hut locations, Oakley stores and Zappos online for $120. The company said its 3D lenses “virtually eliminate the ghosting or crosstalk,” a “potential problem with inferior 3D glasses.” The company said Oakley technology “maintains optical clarity” so the wearer experiences a wide field of vision with minimal glare.