Infogroup/ORC has conducted research which found in January 2010 that 6% of respondents either owned (1%) or expected to own (5%) a 3DTV within the next two years. The research firm estimates that this interest has since more than doubled to around 15%, with 4% owning a 3DTV and 11% expecting to purchase one within the next two years.
“Our research clearly demonstrates a significant growing interest in 3DTV,” said Wayne Russum, SVP and Director of ORC’s CARAVAN suite of omnibus services. “The household interest is at 15% which equates to approximately 17.5mn US households who either now own or intend to purchase the technology within the next two years. Given the average current price of a 3DTV, this finding should put smiles on the faces of retailers and manufacturers.”
Eye boggling 3D tellies are selling faster than 2D High Definition TVs ever did, according to Futuresource, with UK 3D TV shipments for 2010 expected to hit 120,000 units.
Despite surveys that said the UK population had no stomach for the headache inducing technology that is stereoscopic vision, the sales figures seem to speak for themselves.
Market research firm Futuresource expects 120,000 3D tellies to be shipped in the UK this year, reaching 550,000 in 2011. This compares to a mere 4,000 2D HD TVs sold in the UK in 2003, the first year they were available.
One big factor that seems to have persuaded sceptical Brits to part with their cash is huge price cuts of up to 40 per cent.
“Year one adoption of 3DTV is running at a far quicker rate in most territories than it did for high definition,” says Futuresource.
The company is predicting global sales of 3D TVs to exceed four million this year with 1.2 million of those in Western Europe alone. Of those forecast sales numbers the UK comes third behind France and Germany.
The recent 40 per cent price cuts are expected to be followed by further price reductions as the technology gets cheaper. According to Futuresource, products that use active glasses technology are now able to embed the 3D chipsets at a relatively low cost.
Passive glasses technology, as used in cinemas, is deemed too expensive to produce for the home and is expected to remain costly for some time. This is because the television screen itself has to be polarised, meaning it can show one image to one eye and another to the other eye at the same time.
Auto-stereoscopic displays, while here already for small screens, are not expected to reach TV sizes for another four years and even then they won’t be available at commercial prices, according to the firm.
Outside Broadcast NV (Belgium) teamed up with Frame Italia for 3D live transmission of the international test matches of the Italian Rugby Team. Outside Broadcast NV deployed its Unit 14 in 3D, equipped with one side-by-side camera and five mirror-rigs.
The 3D content was broadcasted live in Italy at “La7”. In Italy is it the first time such an event was broadcasted live and for free. A remarkable 3D-broadcast to several Italian cinemas was held on Saturday, November 20th. The 3 test matches were played each time at 3PM and could be watched in Italy live in 3D at channel 527 at La7. Italy- Argentina (Verona-Nov 13th), Italy- Australia (Firenze, Nov 20th) and Italy-Fiji Islands (Modena ,Nov 27th)
full story here http://www.outsidebroadcast.be/cms/modules/news/item.php?itemid=27
The European 3D Stereo Summit for Science, Technology, and Digital Art
Dec. 8-10, 2010
Liege, Belgium
Themes and topics
You will find below the seven general themes of the conference, each including a description and a list of topics. This gives you a vision of what the conference is about. Many of the topics shown should each give rise to a presentation, a session, and/or a panel in the final program.
The first three themes are common to most applications. The next three themes correspond to three domains we have identified, each regrouping application areas that are logically connected: (1) cinema and broadcast, (2) industry, engineering, design, science, medicine, defense, and R&D, (3) communication, education, and entertainment. The last theme looks at future, advanced technologies.
Fundamentals of 3D stereo (3DS) and near-true 3D
Technology of 3D stereo: (1) Hardware
Technology of 3D stereo: (2) Software and algorithms
Applications of 3D stereo to cinema and broadcast
Applications of 3D stereo to industry, engineering, design, science, medicine, defense, and R&D
Applications of 3D stereo to communication, education, and entertainment
PHILADELPHIA: Comcast is cablecasting its traditional “Yule Log” in 3D this year. The multichannel video provider runs The Yule Log channel every year during the Christmas season. Developed in 1966 by WPIX-TV chief Fred Thrower, the Log is simply a 24/7 video loop of a burning fireplace. Comcast said it had more than 4 million views on-demand during last year’s holiday season.
“This year, customers can watch The Yule Log in standard-definition, high-definition and in next-generation 3D, or pick from a dozen other holiday-themed screen savers to get into the holiday spirit On Demand,” Comcast said.
Comcast blogger Rose Farrales notes there is also a new Yule Dog singing Christmas carols and a radar screen for tracking Santa.
ESPN’s 3D presentation of the 2010 World Cup had a certain “presence.”
That was one of the key findings of a comprehensive study by ESPN Research + Analytics, which compiled results, spanning over 700 measures, from more than 1,000 testing sessions and 2,700 hours of participants watching live or nearly live matches at the Disney Media and Ad Lab in Austin, Texas, last June and July.
Speaking at the “3DTV 2011 What’s Next?” conference, presented by B&C/Multichannel News and other NewBay Media brands, Thursday afternoon in NYC, Artie Bulgrin, senior vice president of ESPN Research + Analytics, said that while there weren’t significant differences among viewers checking out the contests in 2D versus 3D relative to enjoyment and involvement levels, there was a major uptick in the “presence” quotient.
The research showed that 42% of respondents indicated that they felt like they were in the stadium during 2D presentations of the World Cup games. That percentage jumped to 69% for those watching in 3D. Bulgrin said viewers described that it “felt like really being there” of their 3D World Cup viewing experiences.
Similarly, data about presence grew from 42% for 2D viewing, to 52% for 2D to 3D conversion of the match images, and 69% for the matches delivered in native HD.
With every passing day, more and more of the technology created by Microsoft for their gaming device Kinect is broken down and reconstructed in new ways that might very well change the future of open-source technology. We’ve seen how the Kinect can be used to create new interfaces with PCs and other simple re-purposing, but it seems that we’re still waiting to see the demonstration that will prove just how revolutionary the technology may prove to be.
Now, YouTube user Oliver Kreylos may have done just that, combining multiple Kinect cameras to create an accurate 3D reconstruction of an object in real time.
After a long awaited five year drought, PSU Towers has finally released the next installment of the Gran Turismo family: GT5.
…
Graphics are big on GT5. When test played on a Sony Bravia 3D compatible set, the results were astoundingly realistic. Some cars in the game are more realistic and these are considered the “premium” cars. They have advanced designs and are customizable with detailed interiors and brilliant bodywork. But with 1000s of cars, Polyphony Digital couldn’t do this with every one available for play.
Environments in the game also have fantastic and realistic graphics. You get little tidbits like fireworks going off in the back ground during a night race, snow capped mountains in another and realistic depictions of cities like Rome and London. You even can see the dust billowing up or snow coming at your windshield. All these things make GT5 just about the most realistic game you may have ever owned.
Sony’s Mike Hocking has revealed that Sony already has working demos of “holographic” technology at its studios. Yes kids, it’s The Future. Almost.
Providing further clarity to a statement in a recent Develop interview, in which Hocking said Sony has “techniques like holographics for the PS3 that I think will be very interesting for the future 3D games,” Hocking explains he was referring to 3D and head tracking working together, not space-age stand-out holograms.
“Hocking is not referring to support for some far-off generation of holographic TV available years after the PS3 is superseded by its replacement,” reports tech guru Digital Foundry, after a natter with the Sony man.
“He is talking about … a meeting of stereoscopic 3D with head-tracking that follows the position and orientation of your face, and renders the view accordingly,” adds the report. “Hocking’s team already has working demos of this technology,” it goes on to reveal.
Gran Turismo 5 has 3D and head tracking via the PS Eye, but it only (inaccurately) tracks the position of your head rather than the direction you look in. As DF ponders, we hope this ‘holographic’ stuff makes it into one of the many updates Kazunori Yamauchi has promised for the game.
3D Display specialist Hyundai IT (www.hyundaiit.com) unveiled the world’s first Super Narrow Bezel multi-vision LCD 3D at Korea Electronics Show 2010. The Super Narrow Bezel is a 138″ super-size 3D screen, formed with a total of nine 46″ LCD displays, arranged in a 3 by 3 configuration. Its height is comparable to that of an adult man. Unlike, the existing big screens using polarized 3D glasses, which can only be used in dark places, the Super Narrow Bezel provides 700 candelas, 150 percent brighter than a normal LCD TV, enabling easy presentation using the touch screen, even in bright places.
The 70-inch premium Table Display, as you might have guessed from its name, is a device for display on a table. Users can search for information using the touch screen functionality and it can be connected to a TV, DVD, Divx, or PC. Hyundai IT’s 3D display products are supplied to television networks, including ESPN and production companies in Hollywood. The Super Narrow Bezel, which proves to be very space-efficient thanks to the auto-folding feature, along with Table Display is anticipated to be in high demand from businesses that are domestic and worldwide. They will serve well in exhibition centers, museums, and 3D production companies. Hyundai IT is also planning to showcase their digital signage solutions for bus shelters and subways.
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