Archive for the ‘Technology’ Category

No other recent technological advancement can be claimed to be as exciting and inclusive as 3D media. 3D blockbusters in the cinema, 3D sports events in pub`s and now the ability to watch 3D content from the comfort of your own home are revolutionising the way in which almost all forms on on-screen entertainment are enjoyed by people throughout the world.

With the underlying technology continuing to grow and adapt the potential for a full 3D home viewing experience can now be realised with little more than a 3D compatible television, 3D glasses and any form of 3D content. 3D content in itself is growing rapidly, with live broadcasts of sporting events now possible, accompanied by traditional television programming in 3D.

In this boom of 3D related products, it is important for the consumer to bear in mind the plethora of products available and make informed decisions as to the best decision available to them in regards to price and performance.

Designer 3D sunglasses are undoubtedly a promising innovation but may not be suitable for every consumer. Equally, projectors may be more suited to certain situations than traditional television monitors and some more suited to gaming over films. As such, it is imperative that the average consumer is aware of all the options open to them when making a purchase.

Owing to the fast paced nature of change in the industry, it also hugely important that the average consumer has the ability to weigh up any purchase`s ability to change and adapt along with the requirements of the industry. This fast paced change need not deter potential buyers, as a well made purchase could allow the user to enjoy both existing technology and future developments such as 3D gaming.

The dvd player is a hugely relevant example of a way in which a consumer can know before they buy any piece of 3D technology the capabilities of the product as well as its durability with regards to changes within the industry and advancements in usage of existing technology. Use of a service such as this would leave the 3D market place a far more open and transparent area of business and benefit not only the individual consumer but those interested in purchasing 3D technology as a whole. In terms of progress in home entertainment 3D technology is undoubtedly the shining light. It has the potential to completely revolutionise the viewing experience from a mundane everyday experiance to one that is entertaining in its own right.

Microsoft division displayed a new technology: 3D without glasses. Although it has been around for awhile but it has always had some limitations. One of the largest limitations is that it only works for one viewer and that viewer must keep their eyes within a specific area. The monitors do this by using lenses or filters that divide the image between the viewer's eyes creating a 3D effect.

Microsoft's new display relies on a wedge shaped lens that doubles as the screen. It uses motion tracking capability to track up to 4 viewers and display a 3D image to each of them. The motion tracking is necessary for displaying 3D without glasses as this form of 3D is impossible without knowing the viewer's head position. There is no need for head tracking but it only works for one viewer and that person must keep their head in a very specific position or the 3D effect will be lost. With the motion tracking ability the display can focus the 3D effect in real time on the viewer by detecting and constantly updating their position. 

The real breakthrough with this Microsoft display is the ability to track and display 3D to 4 viewers at once. Currently the technology is limited to a 20 degree viewing angle though the researchers feel they will be able to get it up to at least 40 degrees. In the case of LCD and LED screens you'll experience picture degradation at angles wider than this anyway so it's not such a big deal.

Taiwan researchers predict mass use of non-glasses 3D TV by 2015. This technology will be able to show depth of field without polarising lenses

Consumers will likely see 3D LCD TVs that don't require people to wear polarised glasses out on global markets by 2015, it was a forecast made by a Taiwanese research group.

Taiwan's Industrial Technology Research Institute already displayed a 42-inch glasses-free 3D LCD TV, and the company can currently make them with screens as large as 65 inches, according to Stephen Jeng, director of ITRI's 3D System & Application Division.

The technology will foster getting 3D into more people's living rooms. Analysts say most people don't want to wear polarised glasses to watch 3D TV, and many balk at the price, up to $200 per pair for some of the glasses.

Jeng says ITRI's technology will be used in digital signs and 3D digital photo frames initially. The main issues for glasses-free 3D TV are broadcasting, availability of content, and eye safety, he said. Small quantities of glasses-free digital signage and 3D photo frames are already available on the market, he said, but may yet take a year or two to take off.

The glasses-free 3D LCD TV on display from ITRI this week showed pictures of objects that ITRI's software converted into a 3D image. The image was blurry and the technology appears to still be a long way from being ready.

The 2010 World Cup in South Africa is being filmed in 3D for the first time. Up to 25 of the games will be captured using 3D cameras.

Initially the 3D footage was planned to also be shown at public events in seven cities around the world.

Sony technology will be used to film the games in 3D.

The majority of existing 3D set-ups use two-camera systems to record images tailored specifically for the left and right eye of the viewer, which requires special polarised glasses for viewers.

However, earlier this year, Sony announced a single-lens camera, which is especially suited for sporting events. The camera takes a single image which then is split by mirrors and recorded on two sensors.

It is predicted there may be 13.6m 3D TV sets installed in Europe by 2013.

In 2008, the BBC broadcast the world's first live sporting event in 3D, beaming back an England vs. Scotland game from the Six Nations to a cinema in London.

Due to the World Cup, the most watched football tournament in the world, Korea's electronics producers are enjoying a major boost in the sale of 3D television sets.

Samsung Electronics reported it sold more than 6,000 3D TVs here in the first two weeks of June, compared to a monthly average of 5,000 sold during the February to May period.

Driven by the World Cup, Samsung expects domestic sales to surpass 10,000 units by the end of this month.

Although the price of Samsung 3D TVs ranges from US$2,388 to $8,154, there is not enough in stock to meet the rising demand.

LG Electronics also saw a jump in 3D TV sales, selling more than 3,000 units at home in June. Experts forecasts that LG will sell 10,000 sets in the domestic market before releasing models overseas later this year.

To watch 3D videos on Youtube or Flickr you need a pair of special 3D glasses. Its lenses must be of two colors: red and cyan.

Usually the price for 3D glaases on eBay is around one dollar. However you can easily make them at home using a spare CD jewel case and some permanent marker pens.

Just scribble the transparent side of the jewel case with red and blue marker pens large enough to cover the width of your eyes. The blue (or cyan) color lens will be for the right eye while the red color will cover the left eye.

Alternatively, you may use a pair of sun-glasses that you already have and replace the lenses with colored pieces of transparent plastic. Or pick an old pair of eyeglasses and fill both the left and right lenses with red and blue permanent markers respectively.

The world's most popular video sharing service YouTube quietly made an upgrade one year ago — it introduced a 3D content support. This feature was developed by one of Google employees in his spare time, as we know Google allows its staff to work on their own projects for 20% of the work time. The name of that person is Pete Bradshaw, he is a YouTube software engineer.

I bet you have not even noticed that Youtube was supporting 3D. But the service now supports the uploading of stereoscopic footage (2 video streams) that it will mix, in real time, right within your browser.

Here is what Pete says about his achievemnet:

So I went digging for 3D content on the site. And there was a lot, but the issue was that sometimes it was mixed with different colors (because you can get different colored glasses). There's red/green and yellow/blue and all these other things. So if you were uploading 3D video, you basically planned for one specific kind of glasses you wanted to support. If you didn't have just the right pair, you were out of luck.

...We came up with the idea that, well, we could mix the left and right views inside the player and give an experience that works on any of the different-colored 3D glasses.

And so 3D was integrated into the player in a way users could actually use. The shooter uploads two videos side by side, and then we do the mix in the player. Then the viewer tells us the color of their glasses, or if they'd rather do some of the crazy, cross eyed things.

From the first demo, I probably spent 3 weeks of actual work—not all of it continuous because, given my background, I'm more on the backend server side of stuff here at YouTube than the player side.

I definitely think 3D is coming, and it's going to be a standard feature. But adoption rates and exact technologies, if I knew that stuff, I would be investing.

Based on this post.

3D TV along with Apple's new iPad, is forming a hot trend in consumer electronics. However in these early days consumers might want to wait for the technology to mature before making a purchase decision.

Every major TV maker from Samsung to LG to Sony to Panasonic promised to launch their new 3D capable TV sets in the first half of 2010, it was featured at the Consumer Electronics Show 2010 in Las Vegas. The 3D feature is hoped to help achieve new sales of TVs.

New 3D ready content is being created and presented almost every week, like the Masters golf tournament, produced by the Augusta National Golf Club. Everyone knows about James Cameron's 3D blockbuster "Avatar," which has opened the growing era for 3D TV.

Problem 1
Despite the available limited 3D content, experts agree that 3D TV is still in its infant phase. Some technical improvements on the TVs will need to be implemented in this respect. Those consumers who recently bought a new HD TV set do not need to rush to get a new 3D enabled one before everything (technology and content wise) falls into place.

Problem 2
Prices have come down dramatically on TVs. And it makes manufacturers now look for something new to offer to keep consumers paying a premium for new products. Some manufacturers started offering Internet features in their TV sets. 3D could become the next feature to boost premium sales. Watching a movie or sporting event broadcast in 3D requires viewers to have a new 3D-capable TV. Current offering on the market have hefty price tags.

The success of "Avatar" has also grabbed Hollywood's attention. Now movie studios are staring to produce new 3D movies and retrofitting older ones with 3D. Even recently released movies are getting the 3D treatment post-production, such as the new "Clash of the Titans" remake in theaters now.

New Blu-Ray players that can play 3D movies for the new 3D TVs have been offered on the market, and movie studios are promising at least 70 titles of Blu-Ray 3D movies by the end of the year. "Avatar" will be one of them.

Problem 3
Similar to what happened with HD television, sports programs in 3D should be popular with viewers. ESPN will be broadcasting some content in 3D this summer with a World Cup soccer match, not to mention the Summer X Games, NBA games, and college basketball and football in 3D. However we sould remember that HDTV, though developed in the 1970s, didn't get widely popular due to cost of parts and processes until the late 1990s. People are still not buying HDTV at the rate of regular color TVs in the past.

The emerging 3D technology is ideal for showing events, while news broadcasting will be hardly something that people would want to see in 3D.

Problem 4
The most obvious hurdle is the fact that viewers still need to wear glasses when they watch 3D TV. TV manufacturers are working on technology for no-glass 3D viewing. However, it's still years away from showing up in consumer TVs.

Simply getting people to even wear special glasses isn't the biggest problem. The real issue is that the glasses that work with the current version of "active" 3D TVs require crystal shutter glasses, which work by very quickly blocking each eye in sequence. The glasses, in addition to the liquid-crystal lenses, contain electronics and batteries, typically good for 80 or more hours, that sync to the TV via an infrared or Bluetooth signal. These glasses cost about $150 a pop. And to make matters worse, glasses made for one manufacturer's TV won't work with a competitor's TV, even though it uses the same "active" 3D technology.

A more advanced version of the 3D TV technology called "passive" 3D doesn't require battery powered glasses. Viewers can wear cheap glasses that many people are already wearing in theaters for 3D movies. Instead of spending $150, these glasses cost only about $1 to $1.50 a piece. That said, the passive 3D TVs are likely to be more expensive. Exactly, how much more expensive is unclear. Some experts estimate that these TVs will be $500 to $1,000 more expensive than the active 3D TVs.

Another issue is that the "3D effect" of a 3D picture is different for different people. For example, animated films actually have less of a 3D effect because they are designed for children, whose eyes are set closer together than adults. Some TVs, such as the Samsung 3D TV available now, allows consumers to adjust the 3D-ness of the picture. Ideally, the adjustment should be made in the glasses.

Among other uses for 3D technology there are 3D games.

Those who have old TVs (either HD or not) should not fear that they would not be able to watch 3D films or programs on their equipment. Older TV sets without 3D feature will still show the picture in 2D as before, even if all TV channels convert to 3D format.

Problem 5
Another concern that medical experts are researching, is that watching 3D significantly increases the workload on your eyes and brain, which are not designed for 3D at all. Eyes' accommodation mechanism experiences a huge stress and some people already do get headache while watching 3D movies. It is said to depend on the distance to the screen. If you can choose a back row seat in a cinema, it is more difficult to do at home in front of your 3d TV.

So there are more questions than answers at this moment.

Let's compare two 3D TVs that are available on the market right now: a plasma from Panasonic and an LCD from Samsung. We want to examine their strong and weak points.

Two HDTVs were tested, they both use the new Full HD 3D standard: the $2900 Samsung UN55C7000 (a 55-inch LCD, on the left in the photo) and the $2500 Panasonic TC-P50VT20, a 50-inch plasma on the right. We tested them with the requisite 3D glasses and a Panasonic BD-C6900 3D Blu-ray player playing both a 3D movie (Monsters Vs Aliens) and a disc of sample footage that came with the Blu-ray player.

The Glasses

Both displays require you to wear a pair of 3D glasses. That is what really creates the 3D effect: the glasses contain LCD shutters that turn on and off to show each eye a separate image 60 times a second. Without the glasses, you see a confusing mess of two images slightly offset. With them, you see the 3D effect, but this means that you need a pair for every person watching, and they cost $150 each.

The Panasonic 3D glasses are arguably less dorky looking, although they aren't going to win any design prizes. The Samsung 3D glasses are larger, heavier and somewhat more nose-ache-inducing; the weight sits right on the bridge of the nose and feels like you have a slight head cold. The Panasonic glasses are also more adjustable, coming with 3 different nose bridges and a neck strap. You can't adjust Samsung's glasses at all.

In use, we found that both HDTVs produced a decent 3D effect, with a good sense of depth to the images. However this experience was far from perfect; the 3D effect often broke down when the camera panned around or moved too quickly. That's because the 3D effect relies on the brain detecting the differences between the two images, and that doesn't work when it can't figure out the difference between one blurry mess and another.

The Samsung displayed an annoying issue with a ghost image that showed up around the edges of objects, caused by some of the left frame getting into the right eye and vice versa (the technical term is crosstalk). The Panasonic actually had the same issue, but to a much lesser degree. It isn't yet clear if this phenomenon is caused by a slight overlap between the timing of the frames on the screen and the shutters on the glasses, or by a lag in the response time of the LCD screen that the Samsung uses. Plasma displays like the Panasonic TC-P50VT20 can react much faster than an LCD, so the screen can show the two images with much less interference between the two. Whatever the cause, it is very irritating and distracting. Samsung's choice of LCD technology gives vivid (if not perfectly accurate) colours, lower power consumption and a bright picture in bright rooms. These features are a very real advantage for most buyers. However, Getprice continues that LCD is "not inherently the best fit for 3D TV.

Watching a movie, we found that the Panasonic was better for extended viewing; although the glasses are heavier, the 3D effect felt more comfortable over time, and the crosstalk between the frames was less annoying. But while the Panasonic HDTV produced the more pleasing 3D effect overall, neither 3D TV was as convincing as seeing the movie on the big screen: the image didn't pop out of the screen on either TV in the way that the adverts imply, even when the filmmakers used tricks like objects flying into the screen. Those didn't really work in the 1950s, and they don't work now. Panasonic's choice of plasma technology is the cheapest and best way to get a huge flatscreen that's free of motion-blur and has excellent black levels. The quality is hard to beat. Getprice review reminds us "Since 3D works by flickering between right and left eyes' viewpoints, plasma's excellent responsiveness is an advantage in ensuring that each eye gets a truly different picture. Plasma's only disadvantages are its high power consumption, the heat it gives off and the (now much reduced) threat of burn-in"

Size has a lot to do with this. Even at 55 inches, the physics of 3D are against home theater enthusiasts. So you'll still want to glue your face to the screen to maximize the 3D effect.

As well as the cost of the TV itself, don't forget to include the cost of the glasses ($150 a pop: you get one set with the Panasonic and none with the Samsung) and $400 for the 3D Blu ray player, because your existing one won't play 3D Blu ray discs (though the PS3 will receive an update this summer). Total that all up for a family of 4 and you are laying out a hefty $3700 for the Samsung or about $3350 for the Panasonic.

And don't forget that you'll need to find something to watch—the only option right now is the execrable animated movie Monsters vs. Aliens, which gets old pretty quickly. At the moment, that's the only 3D Blu-ray available, so you'd be better off getting your 3D kicks from going to see Avatar again and saving your cash until the price of the glasses for these 3D HDTVs falls.

But if you are dead set on being the first one on the block to have a 3D HDTV, the Panasonic TC-P50VT20 is the better pick right now. The Panasonic produces the stronger and more convincing 3D feel, and comes with one pair of glasses. The Samsung is a bigger, brighter and perhaps better overall HDTV, but the 3D is still a little glitchy and you don't get any glasses with it. Plasma technology selected by Panasonic appears to have more advantages in terms of quality of viewing and 3D imaging available; it appears to be slightly more expensive and is less energy efficient, but receives better reviews thus far in terms of quality of image.

As 3D displays and TV sets are becoming increasingly popular, one more group is looking to take the technology to a new level - 3D eBooks.

Scientists at the Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology in South Korea have applied the new technology to add animated illustrations to eBooks, aiming at children - a sort of technological pop-up book for the 21st century.

The technology - based around software that the team have been developing for the past three years - relies on special glasses worn by the viewer to create the 3d effect on the e-reader's screen.

When triggered by prompts in the story, readers don the glasses and are presented with a three-dimensional animation which moves as the book is tilted and shifted. So far, the team has created animations for two books of Korean folk tales.

The project leader, Kim Sang-cheol, has stated that he is confident that - despite the requirement for special glasses - the technology will be easily affordable, although he warns that "it will take awhile to market this technology to the general public." Sadly, Sang-cheol and his team have yet to provide any hints as to exactly how affordable the technology will be - nor when we can expect products based around it to hit shop shelves here in the UK.

If there's one element that is rather primitive in the beginning era of 3D television, it's the glasses that viewers have to wear. They're big, awkward, and consumers are not yet used to wearing glasses at home when watching TV. The problem grows as manufacturers are offering a variety of spectacles, incompatible with each other, not to mention their rather high price.

3D television is already at the door step to massively enter living rooms. Samsung, LG, Panasonic, and Sony are already selling 3D televisions, and other manufacturers will come up with more sets later . Movies are being made, 3D channels launched and cable networks upgraded.

3D may not be quite as revolutionary as TFT or plazma and high-definition TV, but manufacturers are hoping that 3D will eventually help sell more sets.

The problem with glasses is that the cheap, polarized spectacles handed out at movie theaters won't work at home. New 3D televisions require hi-end "active-shutter" glasses. The effect sometimes is even better than you'll get in theaters with the polarized glasses.

TV makers cannot afford to offer expensive models for the U.S. market, where sales are particularly sensitive to price. That is why they are trying to shift price margin into the active-shutter glasses, which is less risky for the TV manufacturer.

To achieve a 3D effect in the glasses, the specs have to electronically synchronize with the TV set. The 3D screens rapidly show alternating images for the left and right eye. The glasses open and close shutters over each eye so that each sees only the image intended for it, which is from a slightly different perspective. This is what gives us an illusion of stereoscopic or three-dimensional vision.

Most manufacturers are bundling one set of glasses with their 3D TVs. But outfitting a living room for movie watching can add another $450.

Consumers will have an option to watch non-3D TV but if they want to use their sets for 3D, they will need the right glasses. TV manufacturers are exploring different approaches that are incompatible with each other. A pair of glasses that works with Samsung won't work with Panasonic.

There are several ways that TV sets communicate to 3D glasses. Projectors typically use a flash of white light that bounces off the screen into the glasses. A few manufacturers link their LCDs with the glasses via radio technology, like Bluetooth. Most LCD and plasma makers are using infrared signals. But even they are incompatible, much as infrared remote controls won't work with different makes of TVs. Manufacturers also use different protocols, or software, to ensure fidelity and timing.

One solution may be universal glasses that will work across manufacturer lines, much like universal remotes can work with different sets.

A standard technology is expected to soon emerge and manufacturers will begin supplying universal eyewear with their sets. However there is trap that the big makers (Sony, Samsung, Panasonic) have got into: they didn't really have time to figure out the glasses in the rush to hit the market with 3D sets.

An alternative to expensive 3d TV sets will be a 3D-ready projector that can cast a very large image on your wall. Acer is developing this concept with a pair of new and quite affordable DLP projectors (H5360 and X1261), which are equipped with Nvidia 3D Vision technology.

Both models contain "advanced" lamps with illumination of up to 2500 ANSI lumens and a 3200:1 contrast ratio. These lamps' life is estimated to be 4,000 hours. The H5360 offers native 16:9 720p video (1,280x720) while the step-down X1261 delivers XGA resolution in a 4:3 format.

The H5360 model is well suited for HD content (that includes 3D gaming). But you will need to connect an Nvidia 3D Vision-compatible computer with a special graphics card to the projector to get 3d content. An Nvidia's 3D Vision Kit (wireless active-shutter glasses and advanced software) is also needed.

The price tag will be set around US$700.