September Events

In the month of September events come thick and fast.
IFA, IBC, CEDIA, ESCA - you need a dictionary of acronyms just to keep up. This year's crop has been particularly fruitful, despite the financial climate, and some of the annoucements look set to affect the way we look at home entertainment and packaged media in the future.

You would have to have your eyes closed to miss 3D. And thanks to the CE manufacturers – notably Panasonic – Blu-ray has been presented as being at the heart of the stereoscopic revolution. So many 3D 'standards' have been presented that you could be forgiven for thinking that 3D in the home was upon us. The trouble is, so many of them are mutually incompatible that consumer confusion is inevitable.

IBC was notable for its contribution to the 3D knowledge base, with the conference including presentations from content providers like Fox Sports, Sky and the BBC and a one-day masterclass. Both sessions opened a few eyes to the challenges that lie ahead. Who knew, for example, that all the 3D content ever created could be broadcast in a week and a half of 3DTV programming? Or that the fact that a child's eyes are closer together than an adult means they perceive 3D differently than their parents?

David Hill, Chairman and CTO of Fox Sports Television, showed a fifteen-minute trailer of what could be possible, if he were to be given "a very big cheque-book". Impressive though the sequence of NASCAR racing, NFL cheerleaders and Madison Square Garden boxing was when projected on the large screen, it was a good demonstration of another challenge inherent in 3D: the need to shoot and post-produce for a pre-determined display size.

That's right, the theatrical version of a 3D movie is not optimised for the home screen. It is (relatively) easy to re-render an animation title and release it as a Blu-ray title, a challenge to do the same for a live action feature. These challenges will no doubt be met but, as Hill asked, "Can we charge any more for advertising on a 3D channel?" What is required to bring 3D home is a large chunk of interest-free, no strings attached investment. Anyone ready to step up to the plate?

Such vulgar considerations were of no concern to consumers who flocked to IFA in Berlin earlier in the month. Alongside the washing machines, in-car audio systems and wireless gadgets were 3D displays and Blu-ray players foretelling a future in the third dimension. A bevy of analysts were there too, praising the earnings potential of companies involved in the new world.

Obviously, making 3D-ready kit for the home is a breeze. Just double-up the bandwidth, double the screen refresh rate, sort out the HDMI connector, distribute millions of pairs of glases and you are home free. No wonder the BDA promises a 'standard' before the end of the year, even though SMPTE will not publish their standard before mid-2010.

Then again, maybe not home free for 3D... The issue, as always, is money. Brian Lenz at Sky is a great believer in the economics of delivering 3D through the 2D infrastructure. This is done by using the simple trick of squeezing the pictures for the left and right eye, widthwise by 50%, so they fit into a single 2D frame. Transmit it like that and then unsqueeze at the other end and Voila! 3D TV in the home. If you are a major international broadcaster wanting to get into the market with a splash, this is the perfect route. It mirrors Sky's earlier decision to abandon component TV, favoured by BSB, and stick with PAL. Commercially, it was the right decision the time, regardless of the impact on image quality.

Visitors to CEDIA in Atlanta will not be convinced by the '3D on 2D' approach. They were treated to a display of what Panasonic refers to as 'Full HD 3D', two separate 1080p channels, combined at the point of display. "That's the way to do it!" as Mr Punch would have said, were it not for the fact that Punch and Judy shows were established four centuries ago. And they were in 3D.

Blu-ray is the only consumer format able to deliver two concurrent video streams in HD 1080p So if - and it is a big if - consumer 3D takes off, packaged media can expect to survive for several more years. Since no-one looks crazy enough to launch a competing format, maybe now is the time for replicators to buy that additional line.