Technology focus > 3DTV
Digital TV Europe
April 2010
Tech companies like NDS are developing graphics for 3D TV services.
tions looking at 3D TV,” says David Wood, chairman of the ITU working party looking at common standards for 3D TV, and deputy director of EBU Technical. The ‘frame-com- patible’ mode is likely to be favoured by pay- TV operators (including Sky) because of its ability to utilise existing HD set-top boxes. “Within this area, which is the most advanced in broadcasting terms, there are a number of candidate systems for working with existing set-top boxes. Opinions differ about which is best or will results in the best picture quality,” says Wood. One school of thought, shared by Sky, is that a system called side-by-side should be used. Here, a HD picture for each eye is delivered to existing HD set-top boxes, to which it appears as a normal HD signal, where they sit side by side. The 3D TV has the necessary technology to create left and right eye pictures with 3D glasses filtering out the correct image to each eye. “It’s not much of an additional cost in terms of manufactur- ing,” says Wood.
Another variant of frame-compatible, said to be favoured by ESPN, sees the left and right signals layered on top of each other. “Some feel the depth resolution would be bet- ter served by a top and bottom approach,” says Wood. “There is some difference in tech- nical opinion. You might say it would be great if the industry could settle on one of these, but receivers could cope with both technolo- gies. We might find ourselves in a world where both are used.” Meanwhile, the so-called ‘service compati- ble’ system has been adopted by the Blu-ray Association, and delivers full HD 1080p res- olution to each eye. “From a technological perspective, it is simply the best available plat- form for bringing 3D into the home,” said Benn Carr, chairman, Blu-ray Disc Association 3D task force. Sony has announced that its BDP-S470 Blu-ray disc player is now capable of showing 3D movies following a software download, and the latest in Sony’s range of Blu-ray players will be able to play 3D discs with no firmware upgrade. The drawback, for pay-TV operators at least, is that this approach is not compatible with existing set-top boxes. Also, although not a broadcast system, it could also need nearly twice the bandwidth of a single HD signal, according to EBU Technical.
Aside from the Blu-ray Association, this service-compatible system has also been rec- ommended to UK regulator Ofcom by con- sultancy Zetacast as the 3D TV broadcast standard it should work towards. The report predicted that the UK’s DTT network is like- ly to be able carry four 3D services in a single multiplex by 2020. “In principle, free-to air broadcasters are probably interested in this system because they don’t have an existing population of set-tops,”says Wood. “It could be some time away, not least because they’ll need to develop business models first.”
Lack of standards
According to Lenz, it was crucial that Sky could harness its current HD infrastructure for 3D: “It means we didn’t have prohibitive expenditure costs in the broadcast value chain which may have dampened our inter- est in exploring 3D. Instead, we’ve been able
new technology needed for a high-quality 3D service without starting from scratch and that means we can bring it to customers in a rela- tively short space of time. And with 2.1 mil- lion Sky Plus boxes already in homes, and with Sky having now standardised around a single box strategy, it means there’s no costly box swap out activity required.” So how does the operator feel about launch- ing a 3D service with clearly defines standards still waiting to develop? Sky is platform and technology-agnostic, says Lenz. The company has focused on using non-proprietary for- mats, within existing standards frameworks, he says: “Our choice to deliver 3D in side-by- side came from collaboration with the TV manufacturers to ensure that there would not be a case where Sky 3D does not work with a manufacturer’s TV,” he says. “We have cho- sen a format that is agnostic to the screen dis- play technology — side-by-side will work with both passive and active glasses solutions, leaving the choice to consumers. And the for-
“There are a number of candidate systems that work with existing set-top boxes. Opinions differ about which is best.”
David Wood, EBU Technical
to work with the strength and versatility of our platform to deliver a high-quality 3DTV experience into the home. “By using our existing HD infrastructure (from cameras right through to the in-home set-top box) we have been able to develop the
mats we’re supporting are ultimately being adopted within the standards currently for HDMI 1.4. We pushed ahead because the solutions are here now and they work.” However, over time, Lenz says the company recognises that as technology develops, the
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