Site Map

CES 08 Best Buzz Awards

Bringing Stereoscopic 3D Content and TVs
to the Home - How Will it Happen?

Webinar date: Thursday, May 8, 2008
1:00 PM EDT, 10:00 AM PDT, 16:00 UTC/GMT
$49.99
(Free if you're a SMPTE member)

Stereoscopic 3D is making a comeback. A number of top Hollywood studios are releasing films in the new format to run on 3D digital cinema projectors. Consumers like these 3D movies and this is creating excitement for Hollywood, theater owners, consumers, and now, a whole host of consumer electronics companies. Why? Because TV technologies are now also capable of showing 3D content in the home and content creators want to bring it to the home. However, a number of challenges remain to fulfill this mission including more 3D content and an effieicnt and easy way to deliver it to consumers.

This special educational webinar, hosted by SMPTE and conducted by Insight Media, will provide an overview of the various ways to create 3D displays for professional and consumer use, giving some insight into which approaches are more likely to end up in consumer TVs. We will also provide an overview of the various ways to format 3D content and the implications for delivering this over the existing video infrastructure. If you are unable to attend the live event, you will have access to the archived webinar for 30 days.

These are complex topics, so our goal is to provide an insightful overview of the basics. For example, when someone says "3D," it can mean a lot of different things -- from rendered 3D images (3D-looking images on a 2D screen), to stereoscopic 3D images (requires glasses to see left and right eye images), autostereoscopic 3D (no glasses to see L/R eye images) and even volumetric or holographic 3D.

Because there are literally dozens of ways to create 3D images, it is helpful to organize these technologies to better communicate where each one fits in the hierarchy. Consequently, we have created a family tree of 3D Display Technologies composed of three main branches. They are:

• Co-located Pixels--each pixel for the left and right eye images are superimposed in space at the same time.
• Time Sequential--the left and right eye images are superimposed in space, but not at the same time. Each image pair is displayed in sequence, typically from 100 Hz to 144 Hz for each component of the image pairs. This rate is generally fast enough for the eye and brain to fuse these images to create the illusion of stereoscopic 3-D.
• Spatial Separation--the left and right eye images are displayed at the same time, but physically displaced from each other. This means that the odd rows of pixels might display the right eye image while the even rows display the left eye image, for example.

In the webinar, Insight Media President, Chris Chinnock, will describe some of the fundamentals of stereo vision and how glasses-based and glassless systems work by discussing each of the above technology branches. Examples of companies that practice various implementations will also be given to help anchor companies with solutions. The webinar will cover many 3D displays, but will focus on stereoscopic displays aimed at near-term home use.

In addition, we will provide an overview of the various ways that a stereoscopic image can be formatted and delivered to consumer TVs. In general, twice as much data is needed to create the left and right eye images, but methods to reformat and compress this into more traditional video pipelines and transmission infrastructures are needed, if 3D is to be a commercial success. Some of the approaches to doing this will be described.

About the presenter:

Chris Chinnock is the President of Insight Media, a market research, publishing and consulting firm focused on the display industry. He leads a team of world-class display experts who monitor and analyze the entire display ecosystem including materials, components, displays and products. Insight Media is very active in the 3D display segment offering technology/market reports, monthly news and analysis and consulting services. In addition, Insight Media, in cooperation with the US Display Consortium, has organized the 3D BizEx conference and has just formed the 3D@Home Consortium. In addition to Mr. Chinnock, Insight Media has four other analysts with core knowledge of 3D technology, markets and competitive intelligence. Mr. Chinnock holds a BSEE from the University of Colorado and is a 25-year industry veteran.

To register for this webinar and have access to the archive for 30 days, click here and check the following option:

~ Insight Media (invitee) $49.00

The webinar will be archived for 30 days. If are you are unable to attend the live event, approximately 3 days after the event, you will receive a link and password to access the archived webinar.

Webinar Registration address: http://www.regonline.com/Checkin.asp?EventId=612189

Contact: Insight Media, Dian Mecca, dian@insightmedia.info; (203) 831-8464.