Manufacturers Getting More Creative with 3D Demos

The art of the video demo has always been a tricky endeavor at CEDIA Expo.

It's easy for display manufacturers to play it safe and go with the big hit that everyone else is showing. And that way, there's even more of a baseline for integrator attendees to compare projectors and TVs.

It was also easy to predict which DVD or Blu-ray movies would be the demo trend-setters every year. The latest Pixar release was always an odds-on favorite for seeing the same clip over and over (I can't even tell you how many times I saw Ratatouille clips). For a while, it seemed there weren't any movies released besides Casino Royale, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Dark Knight and Avatar.

Ah, Avatar. That's when things got even narrower. How could a display manufacturer not show a clip from James Cameron's blockbuster, whether it was 2D or 3D?

Photos: 6 Great 3D Demos

The problem is, it's easier than ever for companies to fall into a demo rut and go with the flow. As omnipresent as 3D has become, the options are much more limited if you want to go beyond that baseline and show something other than Avatar or Monsters vs. Aliens.

At CEDIA Expo 2011, I was happy to see an interesting mix of 3D demo material after what I thought was a lackluster, keeping-up-with-the-Joneses show floor in 2010.

Related: How to Demo 3D Systems

To highlight a few:

• SIM2 used a couple of clips from IMAX, Legends of Flight and Hubble 3D
• Wolf Cinema featured a scene from the wonderfully colorful Rio
• Digital Projection had a couple of sequences from Tangled, including a mesmerizing one in which hundreds of lamps are unleashed into the night sky
• Vutec worked off of a Nvidia 3D content download site to present a unique animated clip and German-produced film Nurburgring 24 Hour Race
• JVC included IMAX's Under the Sea for its detailed closeups of the potato cod.

So after spending three days on the show floor and sitting through countless video demonstrations, what were your favorites?