Dimensional Television Just a Fashion That Comes and Goes Like A
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Broadcasting Has 3D TV come of age? Everyone wants to know: is three- dimensional television just a fashion that comes and goes like a spring clothing collection? Or will it be different this time? The 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa and the 2012 Summer Olympic AFP Games in London will include 3D television coverage, heightening the public’s appetite for this new viewing experience. 4 ITU News 2 | 2010 March 2010 Has 3D TV come of age? Broadcasting ITU/V. Martin ITU/V. D. Wood Christoph Dosch David Wood Chairman of ITU–R Chairman of ITU–R Study Group 6 Working Party 6C Has 3D TV come of age? Everyone wants to know: is three-dimensional tel- There are indications that, if ever 3D TV was go- evision (3D TV) just a fashion that comes and goes ing to succeed, now is the time. A confl uence of fac- like a spring clothing collection? That is rather how it tors means that the quality of 3D TV is going to be has been regarded before — more than once. About higher than was ever possible before. But with a his- every 25 years, since the beginning of the twentieth tory of “boom and bust”, and arguably with some century, 3D catches the public (and business) imagi- eye fatigue issues still unresolved, is this the time for nation. Each time its star fades. But each time its se- the viewer or industry to invest in 3D TV? The answer crets are kept alive by enthusiasts. is that no one knows for sure, but success or failure Will it be different this time? Will the technology in agreeing common technical standards will play a be able to permanently win audiences for television, part. spurred on by successful 3D movies, and starting from ITU’s Radiocommunication Sector (ITU–R) has 3D pay-television in the coming months? Plans have a track record of agreeing standards (“Recommen- been announced for broadcast 3D television services dations”) for television formats. These have made in several parts of the world. Major sporting events, possible digital television and high-defi nition televi- such as the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa and sion (HDTV). Everyone has won because of the com- the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London, will mon standards, and it would be great if we could do include 3D television coverage, heightening the pub- the same for 3D TV. Whether it becomes ubiquitous lic’s appetite for this new viewing experience. or just used for special events, 3D TV will succeed if it ITU News 2 | 2010 March 2010 5 Broadcasting Has 3D TV come of age? is based on common standards — but will lose if the Group 6 (which examines broadcasting services), and marketplace is fragmented. to compromise if needed, at upcoming meetings. The job may not be simple. It is increasingly dif- fi cult to agree on common standards today because The basics of 3D TV research and development is more often done by The basic principle of 3D TV is the same as it has commercial industry that can have different objec- always been. Two pictures (one for the left eye and tives from those of public bodies. There are open one for right) are superimposed on the same screen, source initiatives (though not for 3D TV) which pro- and a mechanism (that usually involves the viewer duce wonderful results but can make us forget that wearing special glasses) makes sure each eye sees common standards do not just happen by them- the correct picture. It is similar to the process of nat- selves. The number of alternative implementations ural human vision — but not totally. In today’s fi rst- of 3D TV is large. And of course, as usual, everyone generation approaches to 3D TV, the viewer does see wants a common standard — as long as it is theirs. depth in the picture (through interocular parallax), Finally, we must remember that some ITU but there are some additional complications. Recommendations can take time to be agreed. But The physics behind the difference from natural vi- time is something we may not have with 3D TV, as sion is that the phase of the light wave originating some broadcast 3D services will start later this year. from the object being photographed is not recorded Whether we succeed will depend partly on the lead- by a 3D camera, just the amplitude of the wave. It ership shown in ITU–R, but mainly on the will of is the phase information which normally guides the national administrations and industry to make pro- eye’s focus. This leads to something scientists call a posals for draft Recommendations to ITU–R’s Study potential “accommodation-convergence” confl ict, The fi rst 3D TV programmes were made in Germany in 1982 by the broadcaster NDR. The picture shows a 3D production being made at a zoo in the Netherlands D. Wood 6 ITU News 2 | 2010 March 2010 Has 3D TV come of age? Broadcasting AFP Children in the Republic of Korea wearing special glasses to watch a 3D image which can strain your eyes. Thus the “missing” part and right pictures as a pair. There will be a whole of the light wave can be the cause of eye fatigue, new market for such processing equipment. unless you are very careful with the way you shoot There is no single standardized format for con- and watch the pictures. The need to take so much tributing, distributing or archiving material in a 3D care is why the recently released 3D movie “Avatar” television studio. This is also the situation for HDTV took so many years, and cost hundreds of millions of — there are about forty different ways to make an dollars, to make. HDTV programme today, when you take into account all the combinations available. Should ITU–R play a Production challenges role in generating Recommendations for 3D televi- Applying that care in television will have a ma- sion production formats? Manufacturers and admin- jor impact on the success or failure of 3D TV. There istrations will decide, by way of their contributions to are rules which amount to a “grammar” for making ITU–R Study Group 6 and its Working Party 6C. 3D TV programmes, but they are outside the do- main of technical standards. Special new 3D cameras 3D displays and processing equipment are needed to make 3D Over the last year, many of the world’s display programmes. manufacturers announced that they will make 3D A number of recent trial 3D TV productions have TV displays. This move has been seen as an effort provided useful lessons. And more knowledge will to boost sales now that profi ts from fl at screens and be gained through ongoing trial productions. Many HDTV sets could be levelling off. aspects of production will need a rethink, including Will the 3D television sets cost a lot more than training. For example, 3D cameras have to be placed usual ones? In reality, the extra cost to the manufac- close to what they are shooting. Another new ele- turer of making a 3D version of an existing display ment is that an additional post-production stage will should be modest. They might, for example, simply be needed to register, align, and manipulate the left need to add a way to switch to the right and left ITU News 2 | 2010 March 2010 7 Broadcasting Has 3D TV come of age? lenses of special glasses with each frame of the pic- Broadcasting 3D TV ture (in the active shutter system). Or it might mean For some time, there has been a free-for-all of ide- adding a coating over the screen to make left and as about ways to exchange programmes and broad- right pictures give out light with alternate polariza- cast 3D TV. Now the smoke is clearing, and a pattern tions (in the polarization plane system). Most of the for ways of broadcasting 3D TV is emerging. This is 3D sets seen recently at trade fairs and exhibitions one of the key elements of the ITU–R Report agreed have featured plasma displays with shutter glasses. by Study Group 6 in November 2009. The new report While there may be only moderate additional provides a map for future 3D TV. costs, most manufacturers plan to start with “high end” 3D TV displays. This minimizes their risk, be- First-generation 3D TV cause they do not have to invest too much. But this, Broadcasting is, arguably, the area where stand- by the way, maximizes the broadcaster’s risk because ardization is most valuable. It directly affects the larg- the initial audiences are bound to be small. However, est cost and most infl uential element of any broad- one manufacturer looks like being the exception and casting system — the price and quality of the home is going for high volume from the start. This is be- receiver. cause their many millions of games machines can be The ways of broadcasting 3D TV are likely to upgraded to 3D TV, and to harvest this market, they evolve over time, as described in the report. Today, need to have corresponding millions of 3D displays in what we have are the elements of “fi rst-generation” the customers’ hands. 3D TV technology: the Plano-stereoscopic systems. 8 ITU News 2 | 2010 March 2010 Has 3D TV come of age? Broadcasting AFP A prototype model of a 3D TV plasma display panel expected on the market in 2010 With these systems, wearing special glasses simi- With this kind of system, it is diffi cult to achieve lar to those used to watch 3D cinema, viewers will be entirely correct colours or to prevent “cross talk” be- able to see depth in the picture, and as in the cinema, tween the pictures.