Who Will Create the 3-D TV Home Standard?

http://www.rollanet.org/~vbeydler/van/3dreview/3dr0708.htm

 

Consider television's evolution. Since it was introduced more than 60 years ago, the picture has gained color, the screen got bigger, the image sharper and the box thinner. Surround sound has made TV more like a movie experience, too. TV has come pretty close to imitating the movie theatre, but what's next? "3-D," say the founders of Sensio Technologies Inc.

 

In Sensio's lab, you can sit on a plush leather chair, put on a pair of oversized glasses and fight the urge to catch apples lobbed by computer-animated monkeys. 3-D filmed performers in a circus act look like miniature people bouncing on a floating ring.

 

"It reminds people of The Indian in the Cupboard," said Richard LaBerge, Sensio's executive vice-president, referring to the movie about a boy who finds finger-sized people living in his cupboard.

 

Bringing this experience to the home has always been the goal of LaBerge and CEO Nicholas Routhier. Now that Hollywood is trying to lure dwindling audiences back to theatres with 3-D, some big electronic makers tapping Sensio for the home-theatre version.

 

"We want to be the Dolby of 3-D," said LaBerge. "We want our technology to become the standard in 3-D home-theatre equipment." Sensio debuted commercially in 2003 with a set-top box for high-end home projectors, but the price at $3,000 for the basic setup sold only a few hundred units worldwide.

 

Putitng their technology pre-installed in high-definition TVs by major manufacturers is the real goal.

 

The home market is poised for growth with the release of rear-projection televisions that are 3-D-ready.

 

"Major retailers will start some test-marketing programs to see how they'll market all this stuff," Chinock said.

 

Sensio is working with 2-D-to-3-D conversion wizards at Kerner Optical Research and Development Corp. to make 3-D LCD televisions. Electronics maker JVC is testing Sensio's 3-D chips in its televisions in anticipation of future viewing technology.

 

Studios like Disney and Universal have rolled out DVDs with their encoding technology.

 

Titanic director James Cameron already has one 3-D release under his belt, 2003's Ghosts of the Abyss, and is working on a 3-D film for a 2009 release and planning more.

 

"Cameron said to us 'As you guys get better, get ready for me,'" said LaBerge.

 

Will Sensio be the home standard. Not necessarily. Rival company DDD Group Plc is also working on a home theatre standard. Like Betamax vs. VHS, a clash of standards may be on the horizon and the winner far from certain.

 

"It will take a fair amount of luck, good business practices and good technology to become the standard bearer," said Chinock. "3-D has existed for decades, and it's catching on again because the technology is mature enough to simplify filming in three dimensions."

 

In the early days, with polarized 3-D glasses, theatres needed two projectors, one for the right eye and another for the left. The projectors needed to be perfectly synchronized, or moviegoers went home with headaches from eye strain. Anaglyphic 3-D using red and blue glasses became a cliche for cheesy 3-D.

 

"We have to kill that cheesy 3-D notion," LaBerge said. "In solving the headache problem we now have to show it can be done at home."

 

Sensio's new technology fuses the two stereoscopic images into a single transmission and onto one projector. Special glasses then bring the blurry picture onto the eyes, making a flat screen appear as though it has depth.