From an article in Broadcast Engineering …The decision by French pay TV operator Canal Plus to axe its 3-D channel after 18 months of operation is a significant setback for the technology in Europe, following low consumer take up. The channel attracted just 20,000 subscribers despite considerable marketing from Canal Plus since its launch in June 2010, leading the company to decide the technology was not ready. Canal Plus managing director René Saal said that for now development and marketing would be refocused back on 3-D, although he did not rule out restarting its 3-D channel in a few years’ time.

The move reflects growing loss of momentum for 3-D in Europe, caused by a combination of lukewarm consumer response and lack of available content. The first signs of this were apparent early in 2011 if not before, with the publication by analyst group Ovum of a report called The State of 3-D (Strategic Focus) identifying a lack of enthusiasm among broadcasters as 53 percent of survey respondents regarded it as low priority. As a result, 3-D content was being produced at a much lower rate than had been hoped or expected a year or two earlier. The report noted that a number of European operators had launched 3-D channels, including BSkyB as well as CanalPlus, but had been hampered by the high cost of 3-D production, particularly for live content. This in turn had deterred some operators from coming in with dedicated 3-D channels at all, but meant more generally that the appeal of 3-D was limited by the poor choice of content, mostly confined to a scattering of sports events and a few movies.

Even in the UK, which has been leading Europe’s push for 3-D, enthusiasm tapered off towards the end of 2011 following another report by Informa Telecoms & Media, which indicated that 3-D will still have failed to break out of its niche and become part of mainstream viewing by 2016. The report acknowledged that 3-D had got off to a flying start in the UK following a strong push from the country’s leading pay TV operator, satellite provider BSkyB, which has been providing its 3-D content free to its 3.7 million premium HD customers, almost 40 percent of its 10 million customer base. BSkyB has been pushing 3-D as the next big thing, and rival Virgin Media, the UK’s dominant cable TV operator with 4 million subscribers, has also been plugging 3-D hard, offering 3-D movies to customers with a capable TV set. Furthermore, 3-D has also enjoyed strong support from the BBC, which kicked off by broadcasting the men’s and women’s finals of the 2011 Wimbledon tennis championships in the format.

But, reality intruded on the hype increasingly in the second half of 2011, as Internet connectivity overtook 3-D in the league of development and marketing priorities. Virgin Media realized it was gaining far more customers as a result of its Tivo box connecting TVs to web content than from 3-D, with the Informa survey predicting that, while, by 2016, one-third of UK households, or about 8 million, will have 3-D TV sets, only 42 percent of these will consume 3-D content regularly.

Part of the reason for the slower-than-expected take up of 3-D is realization that the technology has some way to go to make 3-D viewing compelling for a broad range of content. Goggle-less viewing will be essential for 3-D to become mainstream, and it has still to be proven that TV sets can provide this successfully across a wide field of view. Symptoms such as headaches, dizziness and other symptoms caused quite commonly by 3-D viewing also need to be tackled by reducing the visual processing load on the brain imposed by current technology.

So far, the decline in 3-D interest in Europe appears not to have been reflected elsewhere, with major U.S. networks such as ESPN, Discovery, and DirecTV maintaining their efforts. ESPN, for example, hopes that 3-D will recoup some of the $15.2 billion it spent on rights over the next eight years to the National Football league, planning to shoot these in full 1080p HD resolution in 3-D after 2014.

Meanwhile, Consumer Electronics (CE) vendors are desperately trying to maintain 3-D momentum by investing in 3-D content production if the broadcasters will not do it. The 2012 London Olympics will provide a major test of this strategy, with several TV makers including Panasonic sponsoring 3-D TV production at the games.

In reality, though, CE makers, as well as pay TV operators and broadcasters, are having to lengthen their sights and view 3-D as more of a slow burner that will generate revenues and interest, but over a longer term than had been anticipated, with more work needed. It is likely that further improvements in HD, perhaps Ultra HD, will gain greater traction first.

Despite a growing number of professional 3D camcorders like the Sony PMW-TD300 the general public are not as interested in 3D as the people who make the products like Sony, Panasonic and JVC.

People are happy with HD pictures and a larger swing of the general public are swapping over to HD Ready LED/plasma TVs choosing Sky HD, Blu ray and other devices like the Apple TV that can now stream HD pictures giving a wide selection of HD media to choose from.

Sony Professional has unveiled its first European Customer Experience Centre at its offices in Basingstoke, UK. The new resource will allow visitors to gain an understanding of the latest broadcast solutions in a relaxed and comfortable setting reflecting the work Sony is doing to ensure that the customer is at the heart of its propositions. The centre boasts a state-of-the-art 3D broadcast training facility, ensuring that stereographers and camera operators are equipped with the skills required to ensure that live broadcast 3D is a success.

The Centre is equipped to demonstrate the Sony ‘lens to living room’ story. The sizable training area contains 3D rigs and camera systems allowing users to learn how to capture the best 3D footage while dealing with issues such as changes in lighting, temperature and speed of action.  A section of the main lounge is set up as a production gallery, enabling visitors to experience the MPE-200 multi format processor box, which is central to the production of high quality live 3D. Customers are then able to view the output of their work in the lounge area where professional 3D monitors and consumer 3D BRAVIA televisions are set up.

Aside from 3D solutions, visitors will also be able to experience a fully functional TV production gallery including the latest switchers and Sonaps system. A further demonstration area will allow customers to get to grips with the latest software offerings, including XDxchange, Media Backbone and Ensemble. As well as the static broadcast solutions, customers are able to visit the Solutions team, who are responsible for large scale broadcast transformation projects as well as the design, fitting out and testing of Outside Broadcast trucks.

David Bush, Director of Marketing, Sony Professional, commented; “Until now our ability to demonstrate a functional broadcast workflow to customers has been restricted due to the space and equipment requirements. This new Experience Centre will change that, allowing us to work with our customers to understand the issues which they face and working collaboratively to solve them.”

Bush, went further; “We know from the Sony 3D Technology Centre in Culver City, USA, that customers are appreciative of being able to experience equipment and improve their skills in a comfortable, relaxed atmosphere. We hope that our European customers will gain the same benefits, from this, our first Customer Experience Centre in Europe.”

An exciting extension to this Centre is the upgrade taking place in the current Studio+ facility.  This area is being transformed into a fully fitted cinema complete with 2K, 4K and 3D projectors.  This project is due for completion in January 2011 and will complete the Sony Professional Customer Experience Centre.

While I was at IBC during the year Sony had a prototype shoulder mount 3D camcorder sitting in a glass case, there was no price or availability, this professional Full HD 3D camcorder features four SxS memory slots, left and right channel HD-SDI outs, and a dial for adjusting the point of convergence, extremely important when shooting professional 3D videos.

James Cameron has slammed Hollywood for making inferior movies in 3D. Cameron’s 3D movie Avatar was the world’s highest grossing movie that earned around 3 billion dollars at the box office.

Movies like Clash of the Titans andThe Last Airbender were shot in traditional 2D and converted into 3D after seeing Avatar’s success. ”I think it’s horrible and absolutely the wrong way to go,” Cameron said before the re-release of Avatar in 3D with added footage.

“I think it’s a quick, knee-jerk reaction to seeing the gold rush happen and the studios just wanted to jump in on it and that’s the only way they could do it. It’s the studio making the decision and then handing it over to some company to process it through a sausage grinder and come up with some kind of faux 3D, or a 2 1/2D mess,” he added.

Cameron has plans of releasing his 1997 hit Titanic, the second highest grossing film, in 3D. ”We are going to release it in 2012 in 3D, but we are going to take every care to ensure it’s as indistinguishable from having been photographed in 3D as we can,” he said.

“We won’t succeed. It will wind up being 2.9D, but it will still be .9 better than the 2D we released before. These other slapdash conversions, where they are not spending the time and money and not involving the filmmaker, are like 2.2D,”

HDW “Nice to know I have James Cameron on my side when it comes to cheap, poor 3D films with FREE 3D glasses”.

Following on from the successful launch of the world’s first 3D camera in September ‘09, Fujifilm continue to offer consumers the opportunity to make their own true, rather than interpolated, 3D content with the launch of a new camera – the FinePix Real 3D W3.

A world’s first!
While smaller and lighter than the original model, the FinePix W3 adds a bigger and better quality screen, an Auto 3D mode, stereo sound recording and the unique ability to shoot video in Real 3D in High Definition, with live or recorded playback via direct connection to any 3D TV – using an HDMI mini-cable (hi-speed type) 1.4 cable.

The FinePix W3 continues Fujifilm’s strategy of offering Real 3D content by replicating the human visual system in combining two high quality lens and two CCDs in the one chassis – and allows consumers the option of viewing 3D images and video either with or without special glasses.

3D content can be viewed, and on a huge scale, on any of the increasing number of large screen 3D TVs by using the sets’ supplied glasses.

Alternatively consumers can also view stunning 3D images and video without glasses through the camera’s built-in 3.5inch LCD display or via the optional 8” 3D digital viewer/photoframe. Images can also be made into special ‘lenticular’ prints – via a unique printing process which will shortly be available in the UK for the first time and in a range of sizes up to 9”x6”.

Owners of 3D TVs can also rest assured that the FinePix W3 will show their new screen at its very best, thanks to the unique 3D HD video recording and a parallax control function which helps to remove crosstalk problems by allowing 3D fine tuning, even after the images have been taken.

A rather special 2D Camera
They may already be bowled over by the unique 3D performance of the FinePix W3, but consumers can also be happy in the knowledge that they are also purchasing a very special 2D camera indeed.

This new technology has also brought some unique benefits to shooting images and video in the 2D world, bringing new creative freedom to the user.

By featuring twin high quality Fujinon lens and two CCD sensors the FinePix W3 effectively becomes two cameras in one body, while the powerful, proprietary processor allows the camera to take two different photos at the same time.

So photographers can select to shoot both close-up and wide angle versions of a photo, or two alternative colour balances or have an image with two versions with high and low sensitivity.

The FinePix Real 3D W3 camera will be launched in early September 2010 with an estimated selling price of £399 and will be available from major department stores and leading independent camera specialists.

Key features at a glance:

3D HD Movie (720p) and 3D still image capture
Instant 3D playback on build-in High Contrast, 3.5” 3D LCD (without the need for special 3D glasses)
Direct Connection via HDMI high-speed 1.4(Type A-Type C) cable to any branded 3D HDTV
Two 1/2.3” 10 Megapixel CCD
Two Fujinon 3x optical zoom lens
3D RP(REAL PHOTO) HD PROCESSOR
Compact and light-weight 230g body (excluding accessories, battery and memory card)
2D Special effects using Simultaneous Shooting functions

Firstly can I add that watching 1960s 3D…the bad old Red/Green shift is unwatchable, the deep colours wash out any colour and you are left watching a black and white film that has some depth to it, this in my opinion is the cheapest and poorest kind of 3D and gives todays modern 3D a bad name. This is a ghost from the 1960s and should have stayed there.

TIP. If you see a 3D Blu-ray DVD with this notice on the back telling you about the 2 pairs of 3D glasses…don’t bother. Having looked a bit more seriously into 3D I am horrified to discover how many different types of “3D” there is on offer and even more horrified to discover the cheap and nasty Red/Green version on big cinema titles.

My son who is 26 went with his pal to see Toy Story Three for the “3D experience” in order to view 3D he is asked to fork out 80p for glasses which is not a lot of money and we are talking polarisation. His review of the experience is as follows “The big screen helps but the 3D is not as good as I was expecting considering it was an animated film.”

Lastly I have a demo 50″ 3D Panasonic with a 3D Blu-ray player which uses powered polarisation glasses at £100 per pair. Apart from having to wear glasses this does give you a feeling of depth and fantastic vivid colours…but with one major flaw…as yet you cannot get any 3D films that play on the Panasonic system.

The one saviour for Panasonic will be the introduction of the new 3D domestic camcorder the HDC-SDT750 this will tip the balance, think about filming your children, a friends wedding and showing it back on 3D… it will look fantastic. The domestic market will drive 3D as long as the camcorder is easy to use and simple to produce 3D DVDs, only time will tell.

PANASONIC

“Incorporating Panasonic broadcast technology, this new 3MOS camcorder lets users easily create their own 3D movies, something that only professional image producers were previously able to do. Combined with a VIERA 3DTV and Blu-ray Disc™ player/recorder, the SDT750 makes it possible to save precious memories of friends and family in vivid, lifelike images, to further expand the world of 3D enjoyment at home.”

Alister Chapman (3D expert)

“Anaglyph (Red/Green) is just a viewing method. Movies or productions are not made in Anaglyph. The production process is identical for most productions whether it’s Avatar for the cinema or a corporate for the web. Done correctly an optimised anaglyph with a pair of good quality glasses (not the cheap cardboard ones) can look very good. The best example of good Anaglyph is the Dolby 3D system used in many cinemas. This is a modern version of Anaglyph that uses very narrow colour bands for each eye and rivals RealD Polarised when it comes to quality. The reason why Anaglyph is still used so much is that it can be used on any colour display or printed medium and other than the glasses requires no additional hardware.

The majority of S3D today however is being shown using other methods such as active glasses or polarised projection or screens, even youtube’s 3D player has the option to choose a display method to match the technology that you have. NVIDIA graphics cards have built in 3D drivers, 3D PC monitors can be purchased for £250, 3D laptops are readily available and more and more 3D TV’s are becoming available.

3D is here to stay, it may not be for everyday viewing but for many applications it is a winner. Take sports, now you can tell which way the ball is going, not just left or right. Now you can see the slopes and bumps on a golf green. Natural history will be able to show you things as you have never seen them before and movies will be able to become more immersive.”

So whats the conclusion…stay clear of FREE red/green glasses this is 3D at it’s worst in my opinion, the cinema is the next best thing but 80p glasses don’t give you that wow factor and the best of the lot by 600% is the powered polarisation glasses by Panasonic, but with no films available to date 3D in my books is still a non starter, one ray of light is the £1700 3D domestic camcorder from Panasonic due in September, this could yet tip the balance in Panasonic’s favour.

Ripples from ESPN’s decision to launch a new 3-D sports network are being felt in the U.S. production community. The most recent evidence is last week’s announcement by NEP Broadcasting that it was rolling out two new 3-D production trucks this month. They will make their debut providing production services for ESPN 3D’s coverage of the State Farm Home Run Derby July 12 from Angel Stadium in Anaheim, CA.

NEP’s SS31 is a revamp of the mobile production truck the production services company cut its 3-D teeth on. SS32 is a new 3-D vehicle. Both are built for 3-D production and will give NEP a strong presence in this emerging slice of the mobile production market.

According to George Hoover, chief technology officer of NEP, 2010 will prove to be the “year of the great 3-D test” a period when everyone from viewers to CE vendors, TV programmers to broadcast service providers learn if 3-D TV enjoys success similar to what 3-D films have found in the theater.

In this podcast interview, Hoover discusses the new vehicles, the thinking behind the trucks, the challenge of finding engineering and production talent for 3-D work and where live 3-D television production may be headed.

From Broadcast Engineering 2010

HDW : I will agree on one thing there is a lot more interest in 3D this year but thats mainly due to the advertising of Sony, Panasonic and Samsung and the demonstration of such televisions in stores like Comet, Curries etc.

I am still of the opinion that the £100 per pair electronic 3D glasses are fine for a demonstration but would become a bind if you had to sit and watch every 3D HD movie with them on.

Three-dimensional TV is being introduced into the marketplace with very few short-term studies and no long-term studies about the technology’s effect on the health of viewers.

Last month, Samsung issued a warning about possible health effects associated with 3-D TV, including altered vision, lightheadedness and even stroke or epileptic seizure. Researchers from the University of California, Berkeley and the University of Washington have published papers that found that visual disparities in 3-D TV images can put physical strain on viewers.

Many questions remain regarding the one-size-fits all approach that has to be taken for mass audiences to enjoy the 3-D experience, Jannick Rolland, a professor at the University of Central Florida’s School of Optics, told EETimes. Rolland is known as a pioneer in virtual reality studies.

Rolland said those unanswered questions include: Can the 3-D glasses accommodate an interocular distance between eyes that is much less or more than average? Will adaptation to visual disparities interfere with vision after a movie? Will extended exposure permanently change brain functions in unsupervised children who watch for hours on end?

To find out the answers to these questions, some labs are already doing research. However, the TV industry is racing forward with the technology, assuming any health issues will be minor.

The University of Southern California Entertainment Technology Center will research reports from consumers regarding adverse reactions in the coming year as 3-D TV sets enter the marketplace. Engineering refinements to 3-D technology, however, could be required if even a small percentage of users suffer from health problems related to viewing.

“I think it will be safe,” Rolland told the magazine. “It’s challenging, but I think developers are on the right track; it’s just a matter of finding the best implementation. 3-D TV is such a fantastic technology that it is going to succeed, but you are using your eyes in a different way than you do in the real world; you are focusing and converging your eyes at different locations, which could put a strain on your eyes if the system is not well-implemented.”

Taken from www.broadcastengineering.com

From the vendors selling 3-D equipment to buyers on the fast track to purchase it, NAB came back to life this year after last year’s economic meltdown. Whether 3-D succeeds in the long term or not, major broadcasters are fearful of being left behind.

One example is Turner Broadcasting, who is “moving full speed ahead” on 3-D technology, said Ron Tarasoff, Turner’s vice president of broadcast technology and engineering. He said Turner sees 3-D as a viable way of transmitting TV in the future.

Today, most of Turner’s work involves equipment testing as the 3-D standards bodies consider setting future standards. “There are many different possibilities in how you produce and distribute content in 3-D,” Tarasoff said. “We need to look very carefully at what will help us with 3-D delivery. We’re almost at the same point we were many years ago with HD. There’s this big push toward 3-D, and there’s very little 3-D equipment out there. There are still many different possibilities in how you produce and distribute content in 3-D.”

Also checking out 3-D gear was ESPN, who is committed to airing 85 events this year. Kevin Stolworthy, the network’s senior vice president of technology, said that at NAB he was looking for vendors with whom he was not familiar. “We think there’s going to be a lot more people out there with new 3-D equipment, software and production tools,” he said.

CBS’ Bob Ross said his network is also evaluating 3-D gear, though he’s not worrying yet about storing and playing 3-D programming. The network broadcast the recent Masters Golf Tournament in 3-D TV (distributed via cable operators across the country, thanks to Comcast Media Center in Denver), and it was shown throughout the convention and received overall positive reaction from viewers.

On the manufacturing side, there were many new 3-D products at the NAB Show, and several key strategic announcements as well.

Miranda Technologies announced a licensing deal with 3-D compression specialist Sensio Technologies to develop a line of 3-D playout products. The first product of the collaboration, shown at the show, was the Densité 3DX-3901 stereoscopic 3-D video processor module, which provides high-quality conversion of multiple 3-D formats.

Sensio is also collaborating with Grass Valley to include Sensio’s 3D Encoder IP Core software with the Grass Valley ViBE EM3000 H.264 HD encoder for program contribution and consumer satellite TV applications.

Panasonic announced the first customer for its AG-3DA1 dual-lens 3-D HD camcorder, which it unveiled last January at the Consumer Electronics Show. Rental house Video Equipment Rentals (VER) has purchased 10 of the integrated HD 3-D camcorders and will receive them in the early fall. Los Angeles-based VER will rent the products from its locations in major markets throughout the United States, which include Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, New York and San Francisco, among others.

Elsewhere on the 3-D front, Panasonic will work with Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) to create a 3-D production studio at AEG’s L.A. Live complex in Los Angeles. The company also will collaborate with the University of Southern California Entertainment Technology Center to study the psychophysical effects of 3-D viewing in the home and create production guidelines for 3-D content.

Sony introduced a concept of a 3-D camera it co-developed with Discovery International at NAB during the Digital Cinema Summit. During his keynote speech, John Honeycutt, executive vice president and head of international business operations for Discovery International, called it the “camera of the future” and revealed it would include one 3in CMOS sensor per eye, HD (1920 x 1080) capability, interchangeable lenses, convergence control and metadata support. Field tests are scheduled to start in July.

At another point in his speech, Honeycutt held up the new Panasonic 3-D camcorder and described it as a tool to be used extensively (and cost-effectively). He also outlined plans for a 3-D channel from Discovery, Sony and IMAX slated to launch this year. The channel’s target audience is primarily men ages 25-49 who are tech savvy and likely to be early adopters of the technology.

“We think there is a real audience for this channel,” he said, adding that the “deep reservoir” of content that would be available on the channel includes Sony movies, Discovery TV content and IMAX films.

“We only have one opportunity to impress consumers,” he said. “We are not going to skimp on quality.”

Honeycutt said he was optimistic about 3-D TV set sales, although he cautioned that “approximately 12 percent of all people have issues with their binocular vision, making 3-Dviewing extremely difficult or impossible.”