New 3D Backward-compatible Broadcast 3DTV System Launched

A broadcast and technology consortium in Italy is demonstrating an over-the-air digital 3DTV system that is backward-compatible with 2D TV sets. It allows those with HD TV sets to watch 2D HDTV, even when the transmissions use 3D techniques. Backward-compatibility is possible due to an innovative technique for formatting stereoscopic images, known as 3D Tile Format, which makes it possible to integrate two 720p frames within a single 1080p frame. The reconstructed right and left images maintain their original resolution, preventing an unbalancing of the vertical or horizontal resolution. The 3D Tile Format is said to improve the quality of the transmission of 3D hi-def content, compared to current solutions, i.e., side-by-side or top-and-bottom. The compatibility for regular 2D sets allows broadcasters to transmit to both 2D and 3D users without having to double the amount of bandwidth required for transmissions.

Presenting at SmartTV Global Summit 2010 in Seoul

I’ll be presenting “Future of TV-based Entertainment” at the SmartTV Global Summit 2010 next week.

For many years, the broadcasters determined what content was available and when on the TV. The last few years has seen an explosion of alternate sources of entertainment — IPTV that enables virtually an unlimited number of “channels” and whole-home DVR, personal content, on-line content, social networking, video calls, etc. The downside was that accessing all these capabilities required moving between the TV (with multiple set-top boxes) and the computer. Today, the industry is rapidly enabling the easy access of all the different kinds of content and features through the TV, along with new, innovative ways to find what you are looking for.

Orange to Launch 3D VoD in France

Orange is to launch a 3D Video on Demand service for customers of its French IPTV service ‘Orange TV’ on December 11th.

BT Signs 3D On-Demand Deals

UK telco BT has signed two new deals which will enable it to offer 3DTV films on-demand to customers of its hybrid IP+DTT service ‘BT Vision’.

Presenting at 6th C3D World

I’m currently in Shanghai at the 6th C3D World to present “Providing premium 3D video with post processing for CE and STB products”. Should be another great show, like the previous two.

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