The HDMI Consortium recently released a new specification to support 3D TV for HD televisions. The consortium (made up of electronics companies Hitachi, Panasonic, Philips Consumer Electronics, International B.V., Silicon Image, Inc., Sony Corporation, Technicolor, S.A., and Toshiba Corporation) released the HDMI 1.4a specification to give some guidance to hardware vendors as to how displays could render 3d images.
“We published these latest enhancements to support the market need for broadcast 3D content,” said Steve Venuti, president of HDMI Licensing, LLC. “When we launched 1.4 in June of 2009, we deferred the selection of mandatory 3D format(s) for broadcast content until the market direction was more clearly defined. The market has spoken and the HDMI Consortium has listened and responded to accommodate those market needs.”
The specification includes, as you would expect, hard core information about frequencies, resolutions, bits and bytes, pixel alignments, and other minutia for engineers.
Here are a few implications for consumers.
You need an HDTV, obviously. The lowest grade “Primary Format”, as it’s referred to in the spec, for 3d is 720p all the way up to 1080p.
You need a *new* HDTV, not so obvious. Part of the upgrade for 3D is the requirement for two color pixels for every one 2D color pixel. According to the spec there are three ways HDMI allows pixels to be arranged but any way you order it, it will require twice as many dots.
The most popular format implied by the 3D specs are, a you might guess, 720p, 1080i, and 1080p. Although 4k is supported by the HDMI spec no mention of it was made in the extract.
HDMI 1.4 was released with features such as an integrated data channel (internet access), integrated bi-directional audio (in and out), 4k, a micro and automotive interface, and expanded color depth. 1.4a was release specifically to address implementation details of 3D.
You can download the spec at http://www.hdmi.org
See the full press release at http://www.hdmi.org/press/press_release.aspx?prid=120
