RealD Inc. operates as a licensor of 3D technologies. The company’s intellectual property portfolio is used in applications that enable a 3D viewing experience in the theater, the home and elsewhere. It licenses RealD Cinema Systems to motion picture exhibitors that show 3D motion pictures and alternative 3D content. The company also provides RealD Display, active and passive eyewear and RealD Format technologies to consumer electronics manufacturers and content providers and distributors to enable the delivery and viewing of 3D content. The company has entered into agreements to provide RealD Display, active and passive eyewear and RealD Format technologies to consumer electronics manufacturers, including Victor Company of Japan, Limited (JVC), Panasonic Corporation (Panasonic), Samsung Electronics Company Limited (Samsung), Sony Electronics, Inc. (Sony Electronics), Toshiba Corporation (Toshiba), and VIZIO, Inc. (VIZIO). Its licensees also include content distributors, including cable television services, such as Cablevision Systems Corp. (Cablevision) and satellite television services, such as DirecTV Enterprises, LLC (DirecTV). Applications Cinema The company designs, manufactures, licenses, and markets its RealD Cinema Systems that enable digital cinema projectors to show 3D motion pictures and alternative 3D content to consumers wearing its RealD eyewear. As of March 23, 2012, the company’s RealD Cinema Systems were deployed on approximately 20,200 theater screens in 68 countries. Its licensees include approximately 900 motion picture exhibitors. As of March 23, 2012, the company was working with motion picture exhibitor licensees to deploy RealD Cinema Systems on approximately 2,700 additional screens under existing agreements with them. RealD-enabled screens and the RealD Format have been used to exhibit other new and alternative 3D content, including sporting events, concerts, cultural and other live events. In addition, in March 2012, the company released Madam Butterfly 3D, a co-production with London's Royal Opera House, to its participating exhibitor partners worldwide. The company licenses and markets systems to motion picture exhibitors based on the type of digital projector installed and theater configuration: RealD Cinema System, RealD XL Cinema System, RealD XLS Cinema System, and the RealD XLW Cinema System, which is designed specifically for premium large screen auditoriums with stadium seating configurations. Its RealD XL Cinema System can be displayed on screens of up to 82 feet wide, and RealD Cinema Systems would be scalable to larger formats as projector technology evolves. The RealD XLW Cinema System is designed for use in large screen motion picture auditoriums, theme parks and specialty theaters with stadium seating. The company also introduced a RealD Cinema System for dual projector installations that is capable of delivering twice the light of other dual-projector 3D systems. Consumer Electronics The company makes its RealD Display, active and passive eyewear and RealD Format technologies available to consumer electronics manufacturers, content producers and content distributors to bring 3D to the home and elsewhere. In January 2011, together with Samsung Electronics LCD Business, the company announced the joint development of a new 3D display technology called RDZ that offers full resolution high definition 3D video and is compatible with the same 3D eyewear used in RealD 3D-equipped motion picture theatres worldwide. RDZ 3D display technology is designed to deliver full resolution high definition 3D images by adopting active shutter technology on the display. RDZ displays are also 2D compatible, resulting in no reduction of image quality in 2D mode. Professional The company’s professional 3D technologies are utilized by Fortune 500 companies, government, academic institutions, and research and development organizations for applications, such as piloting the Mars Rover. Its professional 3D technologies have also been used for theme park installations, including at LEGOLAND. Sales and Marketing The company maintains sales offices in the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, Hong Kong and China. Research and Development The company’s research, development and engineering teams have expertise in various disciplines, including polarization control (the manipulation of light); photonics (the application of electromagnetic energy, incorporating laser technology, electrical engineering, materials science and information storage and processing); optics (the branch of physics that deals with light and vision); liquid crystal physics (the application of elements at the border between the solid and liquid phase to the creation of nanoscale devices); and digital image processing (the use of computer algorithms to perform image processing on digital images). The company’s research and development expenses were $16.5 million, as of March 23, 2012. Intellectual property As of March 23, 2012, the company had approximately 216 patent families comprising approximately 150 individual issued patents and approximately 264 pending patent applications in approximately 15 jurisdictions worldwide. Its issued patents are scheduled to expire at various times between May 2012 and November 2036. The company has approximately 42 trademark and service mark registrations and pending applications worldwide for a variety of word marks, logos and slogans. Competition The company’s primary competitors for RealD Cinema Systems include Dolby Laboratories, Inc. (Dolby), X6D Limited (Xpand), MasterImage 3D, LLC (MasterImage), Sony Electronics, and IMAX Corporation (IMAX). History RealD Inc. was founded in 2003.