MasterImage 3D Inc., which makes auto-stereoscopic 3-D displays, 3-D content creation tools and 3-D digital cinema products, this morning announced it had received a $15 million investment from Samsung Ventures.
MasterImage 3D, which claims to have invented, patented and mass-produced the cell-matrix parallax barrier, purports to offer the highest quality 3-D experience currently available on the mobile small screen, far out-stripping its rivals’ striped and lenticular approaches.
Last year at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, the firm was already showing off what it was touting as one of the world’s first glasses-free 3-D mobile handsets from Hitachi – the Woo – and at this year’s show MasterImage said it was in development to deliver additional smartphones and tablets equipped with its 3-D displays in 2011. With the new injection of Samsung funding, that’s looking more likely than ever.
While some may still scoff at the notion of 3-D for mobile, it’s worth remembering that MasterImage has built a rather lucrative business for itself in the 3-D digital cinema market, with its systems installed in nearly 60 countries, and having seen over 300% growth last year alone. So, if anyone can pull it off, MasterImage 3D should be able to.
Younghoon Lee , the firm’s chairman noted somewhat understatedly, “we’ve just begun to realize the impact 3-D will have on consumers.” Some would argue consumers themselves still have yet to realize it too, but that’s where Samsung Ventures’ cash comes in. “We are committing this investment to innovation – specifically, to advancing our 3-D solutions for cinema, smartphones, tablets and larger autostereoscopic displays,” added Lee emphasizing, “we will continue to build toward our vision of 3-D on every screen.”
It’s a vision Samsung Ventures seems to share, with the firm’s managing director for North America Ilseok Yoon noting that MasterImage was picked from the crop due to its early arrival on the auto-stereoscopic 3-D mobile display scene and it’s significant success in 3-D cinema.
“MasterImage 3D has demonstrated both a technical and business vision in driving adoption of 3-D,” he said in a statement.
Other investors who have been wooed by MasterImage 3D’s vision include Skylake Incuvest & Co. and investments from individual private firms.
Does this mean MasterImage 3D is getting cozy with Samsung? Yes and no. The firm swears it has had a close relationship with Samsung, even pre-dating this deal and that the cash injection from the firm’s investment arm does not specifically entail working with Samsung. But it probably does. Especially seeing as MasterImage 3D reckons the deal “allows us to make more introductions within the organization.”
It probably won’t stop MasterImage from doing deals with Samsung phone rivals like HTC Corp. though. But here we’re just speculating.
For now, all we know is that both Samsung and MasterImage 3D “continue to have a commitment to 3-D,” and “hope that there are opportunities to work together in the future.”
MasterImage says it will also continue to work “with every device manufacturers, chip makers, carriers and other OEMs to bring its technology to market,” and that “the Samsung investment has no impact on current or future product/technology partnerships.”
