interweb ink » 3d

Nintendo Goes 3D at E3

David Thongvanh — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 12:34:17 +0000

Nintendo is slated to discuss their attempt at a 3D DS at this summer’s E3. More ambitiously, they’ve set a release date for the platform in March 2011.

Although early, Japanese newspaper Nikkei reports that the device will have some kind of 3D joystick as well as force feedback. One confirmed feature is full backwards-compatibility, so don’t start selling off your current DS library just yet. It will presumably have cameras to accommodate the DSi library, but other features are sketchy for now.

It’s interesting that Nintendo would head this direction. The pop-out kind of 3D hasn’t been used much in gaming–3D usually means 3D modeling, 3D characters. Developers and industry experts are optimistic for now, but skeptics are already comparing it to the old 3D movies. E3 should give the public a better idea of whether or not this new DS will crash and burn, so keep an eye on Nintendo this summer.

Check the official press release for yourself.

3D TV: HDMI Consortium Releases HDMI 1.4a Specification

Savan Thongvanh — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 16:34:21 +0000

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

Panasonic and ESPN leading in 3D Sports in 2010

Savan Thongvanh — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 19:08:02 +0000

Can’t make it to the Olympics in Vancouver or the World Cup? Don’t worry Panasonic and ESPN will get you there – in 3D.

Earlier this month Panasonic announced that they signed up the Olympic Speed Skating team Vancouver in 2010.

Bob Greenberg, Vice President of Corporate Brand Marketing for Panasonic Corporation of North America. “Speedskating is a fast, highly visual, and exciting sport that takes center stage in the world of sports during the Olympics. Panasonic is also on the verge of taking center stage in the next generation of home entertainment with the debut of our Full HD 3D Home Theater system. We are looking forward to capturing the high speed action of Speedskating in Full HD 3D video and showcasing the truly immersive, blur-free images that consumers will be able to enjoy when this amazing technology makes its debut next year.”

Hopefully we’ll see more and more 3D coverage, enough so that it can get pushed down to “entry level” big screens. As they’re just coming to market now it probably won’t be for another couple years but the more coverage the better! You can read more about Panasonic’s coverage at http://panasonic.net/olympic/

If ultra fit Olympic athletes wrapped in spandex aren’t your bag don’t forget that ESPN announced at CES that they’re going to have a whole 3D sports network in 2010, including the World Cup. Read more about ESPN’s coverage.