My first screening of Avatar was in IMAX 3D, and it was great.  Yesterday, I caught Avatar in RealD 3D.

If you read my Avatar review, then you’ll see that I experienced some slight issues with out of focus objects in the foreground of a few scenes.  I wanted to compare this issue with 3D experience of RealD.

Most of the recent films that I’ve watched in 3D have been in RealD 3D, which have been very impressive for the most part.  I expected the RealD version of Avatar to outshine the IMAX 3D version; however, once I got settled in, I really couldn’t tell that much difference in the overall video and 3D quality.

I think that Avatar is slightly smoother in RealD, but not by much. In fact, I would recommend seeing Avatar in IMAX 3D as opposed to RealD.  The screen size makes a big difference in the viewing experience.  The top and bottom of the film screen were just too limiting after having seen it in IMAX 3D.

That’s not saying it was a bad experience in RealD 3D.  The 3D glasses were a world better in RealD 3D.  The special effects looked just as good in RealD, just not as big.  And that’s what makes IMAX 3D such an epic experience.

If you’re trying to decide which 3D version to see, my recommendation is the IMAX 3D version.

James Cameron’s Avatar will be shown in RealD 3D and IMAX 3D.  It’s scheduled for release on December 18, 2009, just in time for Christmas.

You can bet your bottom dollar that I’m going to catch this in 3D.  Although, I’ll probably stick with RealD 3D as opposed to the IMAX version.  Expect a review shortly after the release date.

More on Avatar at Tech Tilt.

As if we needed more confirmation that 3D is growing as a viable entertainment product, the 3D Entertainment Summit doubled in size this year.  In attentence were major players like Sony, RealD, Dreamworks, Panasonic and IMAX.

You can get more details about some the latest developments from these players in the press release below.

3D Entertainment Summit News Release

MILFORD, Conn.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The 3D Entertainment Summit in association with Variety, co-produced by Bob Dowling and Unicomm LLC, and presented by The Entertainment Technology Center (ETC) @ USC announced today attendance and sponsorship of the 2009 show doubled last year’s tally. This year’s event, which was held at the Hilton Los Angeles in Universal City September 16 and 17, attracted more than 500 attendees representing the “who’s who” in 3D from top brands and all aspects of the entertainment community, while drawing international media coverage. Major sponsors included Sony Digital, Sony Electronics, RealD, 3ality, DreamWorks, Panasonic and IMAX.

Summit Co-Producer, Conference Chairman and former Editor-in-Chief of The Hollywood Reporter Bob Dowling opened the 3D Entertainment Summit, highlighting the tremendous growth realized by the 3D industry since the last Summit was held this past November. Dowling provided perspective on the international growth of 3D as well, having just returned from South Korea where Mr. Dowling also spoke about the 3D industry.

“The common theme among attendees this year is that the 3D industry has grown at a rapid pace and will continue to grow amid a very trying time for most businesses and industries,” said Bob Dowling. “We are looking forward to the future as the credit markets open and continue to support this record-breaking growth.”

Wednesday’s keynote was a discussion between David Cohen, Features Editor, Daily Variety, Director and Screenwriter Henry Selick and Academy Award-winning Visual Effects Supervisor Brian Van’t Hul for the LAIKA/Focus Features 2009 breakout 3D animated hit film Coraline. The trio focused their discussion on the creative side of 3D. Day two featured a conversation between Mr. Dowling and Jeffrey Katzenberg, Chief Executive Officer & Director of DreamWorks Animation SKG. Mr. Katzenberg highlighted to Dowling the tremendous opportunity 3D continues to present the entertainment community.

Other highlights at the show include:

* RealD announced the availability of designer 3D glasses in select markets prior to the opening of the 3D film Avatar
* TrioScopics3D President and CEO John Lowry premiered his 3D system, which requires no investment in equipment from exhibitors, and also works with today’s DVD/Blu-ray players
* IMAX announced Tron: Legacy will be released to theatres in IMAX 3D
* 3ality Digital partnered with Nagravision to introduce the Nagra Media Guide for 3D, which was developed for set top boxes to enable the 3D at-home viewing experience
* During “The Business Case for 3D” panel, Screen Digest Senior Analyst Charlotte Jones illustrated that 3D remains a strong revenue driver for features, especially for this summer’s pics. “Without 3D premium pricing, the summer would not have registered as positive”
* Cinedigm Entertainment and 3ality Digital announced an agreement to bring a minimum of 8 live 3D alternative entertainment events to cinemas over the next two years
* Technicolor leveraged the 3D Summit to announce to the industry the organization’s celluloid 3D solution

“One of the strongest indicators that the 3D market continues to grow from our own perspective is our attendance and sponsorship levels, which both doubled from last year,” stated John Golicz, CEO of Unicomm, the event’s producer. “This enthusiasm for the 3D industry will drive Unicomm to schedule an additional show focused solely on the 3D video game industry next year.”