Will the Move to AS-3D Be Sooner Rather than Later?

June 21st, 2011

Headlines in the Taiwan Display press yesterday said AUO expects patterned retarder 3DTV sets, that cost more up front to make, will break out of the nearly dead heat status with active shutter 3D solutions soon. But AUO also has their eye on autostereoscopic (AS-3D) technology with a plan to have a PC customer offer a product this summer.

According to DisplaySearch, sales of active and passive glasses 3DTV panels has been very close since the beginning of 2011. Q1 global shipments of active glasses based 3DTVs have hit the 1M mark so far this year, while the passive glasses based 3DTV sales are just under 900K units. Passive 3DTV panel sales may exceed sales of active ones by the second half of 2011, according to a story in Digitimes.

But beyond glasses based 3DTV viewing, as Ken Werner hinted in his Display Taiwan article last Thursday, AUO has a new eye-tracking AS-3D technology based on an active lenticular approach with the potential to deliver the 3D sweet spot to the viewer (albeit a single viewer for now) because the system knows where you’re looking. Essentially an on-board camera tracks the eyes of the user and algorithms adjust how the 3D image is mapped to the pixels to always present a clear image. This “SuperD Player” is at the heart of the system. We were told the 3D content can be scaled to cover the entire screen, or a portion of the screen. Of what we did see, the single user technology is compelling and the 3D image fantastic. This was based on the 15-inch class prototype laptop display screen and player software in action (see the eye tracking in the image on the right.)

Can the approach be expanded to cover more than one viewer? No word from AUO.

For AUO the debate may not be over active vs. passive glasses, but rather how fast we can move to AS-3D using its eye tracking software and player, plus switchable lens technology creating a dead-zone-free AS-3D image – at least for single-user applications. – Steve Sechrist

3DTV Alive and Well-It’s the “Fad” Moniker That’s Dead

May 24th, 2011

“3DTV is just a fad…” The words struck me like a knife, not because of any vested interest in the technology, but because they were uttered by a well respected (not to be named) member of the display community, that happens to be a genuine hero of mine. Someone I deeply respect and aspire to emulate. Worse yet, there was no closure, as we were in a conference session, with no time to delve into the issue.

On the 3DTV front, a lot happened during Display Week in Los Angeles last week, and possibly the most significant development was Samsung’s announced partnership with RealD and the giant LCD TV maker introducing a passive glasses-based 3D solution. The Samsung move to passive 3D came on the heels of an outright feud over Active vs. Passive, with rival LG this past spring, with Samsung in the Active 3D glasses camp. (For details read Pete Putman’s outstanding review, in his March 14th Display Daily: 3D Theater of the Absurd.)

Suffice it to say, that with the Samsung endorsement of Passive 3D technology at SID, the circular polarized 3D method may have just gained the coveted de facto standard status among the major 3DTV suppliers, as LG and Samsung are the two largest makers of TVs worldwide. And a standard is something most analysts agree, is necessary for 3DTV to move beyond the “fad” and fully into the mainstream.

Despite these steps forward, it is not hard to make the “fad” case either. History is not on the side of the technology with several missteps since the 1950’s and perhaps before. More recently, TV makers were looking to the technology to boost profits by using the feature to break out of commodity pricing, much like LED backlights and thin-sexy sets did for LCDs during the holiday season in 2009. But the 2010 strategy proved to be a dud. Of Samsung’s $50B in revenue last year, only 1% was on the books as operating profit margin. For number two LG that number was around 2%. And top US CE retailer, Best Buy said its 16% decline in quarterly profits were due in part to 3DTV demand “…that did not materialize as the industry anticipated.”

Meanwhile, enough of those sets did sell to generate some interesting data from a comprehensive SmithGeiger study commissioned by the Digital Entertainment Group (DEG). They surveyed 3,065 3D-capable set owners (not potential buyers) and shed new light on some old ideas about 3DTVs. Read the Multichannel Newsstory here.

OK, here’s a brief sampling of the results:
* 85% of 3DTV Owners prefer to watch Half (23%), Most (35%), or All (27%) TV Programming in 3D
* 14% said they would watch Most Programming in 2D
* 60% view 3D content on their 3D-capable TVs
* 88% giving “thumbs up” to the 3D picture quality (91% rated 2D picture quality positively)
* 83% took no time, or just a few minutes to adjust to wearing 3D glasses
* 74% own two or more pairs of glasses
* 33% purchased an extra set with their initial 3D buy
* 52% said they received at least one set of glasses bundled w/ purchase
* 24% reported watching more TV in both in 2D and 3D

One final point, at the Awards Luncheon at SID last week, I sat with Jeong Kim, Chief Research Engineer at LG, the guy who was in the middle of the feud with Samsung a few months earlier (this is why Display Week is my favorite conference.) He told me that his group had no choice but to ship 3DTVs with passive polarizer glasses, and here’s why. He said the company has a mandate to deliver what the customer wants. Turns out they did their own brand of internal survey before CES, placing a random group of people in a room with the two versions of 3DTVs showing the same sporting match. There were enough active or passive glasses to view either technology-and by the end of the match, all were wearing passive 3D glasses. LG made the commitment to Passive 3D at CES and the rest is history.

But beyond technology vintage, the issue of 3D being a fad may have finally been addressed with this study and the building momentum of the technology. Personally, one look at a golf match in 3D was all it took to convince me. But the growing availability of 3D content both professionally produced, and home made, the commoditization of 3D features on next generation sets, push from 3D gaming and now the standardization of passive glasses for large displays may be enough to push the technology into the mainstream-demonstrating that even a personal hero, can be wrong now and again. – Steve Sechrist

Note: for expanded version of this story, see the upcoming June issue of Large Display Report.

Is The 3D Sports Engine Running out of Gas?

November 16th, 2010

It’s 4th and 10 at the 50 yard line, with 2-minutes on the clock and your team is down by 3. With all the excitement of a close football game, this holiday season may be make or break for CE manufacturers selling the newest must-have consumer devices—and the clock is ticking for ESPN 3D sports content.

The Anatomy of a “Good Start”

June 29th, 2010

Like a milepost on the way to market, a recent study by NPD Group (Port Washington, NY) shows that $55M in 3D-capable flat-panel TVs and BRD players were sold in the US in the first three months since their launch in February. In just going with the numbers, the mainstream press seize on the fact that the $55M in sales or about 20K sets represents just a tiny fraction of total TV sales.

Steve Sechrist
Senior Analyst and Editor

To help put things in perspective, Riddhi Patel of iSuppli said, “Shipments of all types of LCD-TVs are expected to hit 170M this year, while shipments of LED-backlit sets will reach only 26M globally in 2010.” Insight Media pegs the 2010 3D sales number at 3.3M units, or just about 2% (1.94%) of iSuppli’s total unit TV sales number.

Global sales in 3D technology are likely to range between 50M units by 2015 (Insight Media forecast) to 78M units (iSuppli forecast) by the end of that year. According to Patel, “Robust growth of 3DTV sales appears to be assured during the next few years.” But she cautions that full adoption of 3DTV is still hampered by issues of “standardization, content availability and interoperability of the 3D glasses.”

But that’s just the point, anyone buying a 3DTV capable set today is either an early adopter, or wanting to “future-proof” a flat screen purchase they would have made anyway. For now, we see home 3D viewing as event driven, not a ubiquitous upgrade that forces the family to wear glasses every time they turn the set on, but rather an enhancement that adds to the viewing experience.

But does the $55M in sales represent a good start, or slow start for the industry? The LA Times took up the question today, with the headline: “3-D TV sets are selling, but no instant craze.” They quote the NPD study and estimate that 20K sets were sold to make the $55M number. Then, they turned to CEA to get an overall 7M sets sold in the same period. That’s just 0.28% of the total sets sold in the same period. Let’s call that 3 TV sets out of every 1000 sets sold in the US were 3D capable in the first three months of sales.

At face value, it does seem like a slow start… But we think the early numbers suggests that the 3D CE-product market is about to catch fire among consumers. And, the party is just beginning, according to Ross Rubin, executive director at NPD. “3DTV and Blu-ray players are seeing steady growth even as major product line launches are slated for the coming months,” he said.

In Europe, GfK Group (Nuremberg, Germany) said 25K 3DTVs had been sold by the end of May. Samsung was first over there with a 40-inch 3D set (UE40C7000) that started selling in late February, but the company recently upgraded its offering with a larger 46-inch display (UE46C8000) currently going head-to head with Panasonic’s 50-inch 3D capable PDP set. The point is, this is still early days for 3D in the US and Europe with plenty to still be worked out by the industry.

Also, the NPD numbers do not show some major 3D product rollouts (i.e. Sony’s),which hit the market in July, nor do they reflect the spike in demand some analysts predicted would come from the World Cup finals and their broadcast (in part) in 3D by ESPN.

Add to this a recent Parks study that looks at 3D content preference that seems to indicate 3D films will drive sales with 40% of the respondents saying they are interested in viewing movies in 3D on their TV. The string of 3D box office hits coming out of Hollywood of late will help drive demand for home 3D viewing even further.

So take your pick, is the glass half full, or half empty? “3DTV will be a premium home entertainment experience in 2010,” said NPD’s Rubin. We agree, the road ahead for 3DTV adoption seems to be clear, particularly in mature TV regions like the US and Europe. There are still bumps to navigate. This includes quality of 3D content, availability of 3D content, as well as standards and interoperability issues (for both the TV sets, content delivery and glasses). Nevertheless, we see the summer 3D blockbusters and special 3D sports venues helping to heat up the market, giving those early adopters something new to show off in the living room.

 

Like Color and Voice… 3D Will Simply Melt into the Background

June 22nd, 2010

What better way to celebrate Fathers Day this past weekend than to take the family and visit with old friends, Woody, Buzz, and the gang, Hamm, Potato Head (Mr. and Mrs.) Jessie, et. al. Yes fifteen years (that’s three kid generations) after the debut of Toy Story (TS-1, 1995) and Toy Story2 (TS-2 in 2000) the third installment Toy Story3 (TS-3) came to theaters to remarkable acclaim-and this time in 3D!

Steve Sechrist
Senior Analyst and Editor

Unquestionably the film is already a box office success and snatched the biggest single day gross ($41M) for an animated film from Shrek the Third’s($38M) record opener in 2007. And beyond the box-office (a bit skewed since 3D films garner more in ticket sales per seat than 2D) at debut, film goers ranked TS-3 at 9.4 stars out of 10 (from more than 10K users) as recorded on the Internet Movie Database (IMDb). That’s a first day rating that puts it as number 11 on its top 250 movie list.

Critically, the film also scored very high (much higher than the aforementioned Shrek) with virtually every major critic placing it in the top third. Here’s a brief rundown:
*Rotten Tomatoes (RT) reports that 98% of critics have given the film a positive review (170 reviews, with an average score of 8.7/10

*RT “Cream of the Crop” (TV, Newspaper, Web, Radio) 100% positive based on 33 reviews

*Metacritic, mainstream critics (normalized rating) 91 out of 100 top reviews

Film Critic	Comment
A. O. Scott The New York Times	“This film — this whole three-part, 15-year epic — about the adventures of a bunch of silly plastic junk turns out also to be a long, melancholy meditation on loss, impermanence and that noble, stubborn, foolish thing called love.”
Owen GleibermanEntertainment Weekly(A-Rating)	“Even with the bar raised high, Toy Story 3 enchanted and moved me so deeply I was flabbergasted that a digitally animated comedy about plastic playthings could have this effect.”
Michael RechtshaffenThe Hollywood Reporter (positive review)	“Woody, Buzz and playmates make a thoroughly engaging, emotionally satisfying return.”
Claudia Puig USA Today (4 stars)	“This installment, the best of the three, is everything a movie should be: hilarious, touching, exciting and clever.”

My favorite review came from Scott Mendelson at Huffington Post.com:
“If the first two pictures took Woody and Buzz to ‘infinity and beyond’, this one takes them to hell and back. It absolutely must be seen in 3D if possible, if only because the glasses will be useful in hiding the stream of tears during the first and last reels.”

The important message to the display industry in all of this is the fact that the 3D part of this film was not the outstanding part of the feature: it would have been well received in 2D. At times while watching the movie, I had to remind myself that I was wearing the 3D glasses, and began peaking at the screen sans the glasses to look for differences. Surprisingly, they were there but, perhaps like film advances in color and voice did before it-became so much a part of the story that the technology melted into the background allowing the viewer to simply enjoy the event, forgetting all that went into its creation.

The 3D subtlety in this film was remarkable. There were few 3D scenes that brought a “Wow” from the audience. Rather, director Lee Unkrich (who also edited TS-1 and TS-2) chose to build his animated 3D world much the same way we perceive reality with the detail and the added dimension simply added to the story.

Mendelson agrees: “If it needs to be said, the animation is once again peerless, as some of the most poignant moments come from just the facial expressions. And, it should indeed be noted, this is some of the best 3D work yet in a cartoon or otherwise. The film feels fully immersive, but you rarely if ever ‘notice’ the 3D effects at work.”

So beyond all other acclaim, Toy Story3 is seminal in demonstrating the maturing of 3D technology, moving it past sophomoric spectacle and radical exhibitionism into a fully mature medium that boosted this story into infinity and beyond… Steve Sechrist

 

3D Glasses Poised for Mainstream

April 27th, 2010

Want some real proof 3D technology is here to stay? Just type in “3D Glasses” into Google and take a look at the hits… One favorite is 3dglassesonline.com with a “nifty fifty’s” take-out menu (web page genre) and the classic headline borrowed from McDonalds, claiming “Over One Billion Served!” That’s billion with a “B” and that’s just the anaglyph version of 3D Glasses from companies like American Paper Optics, Berezin and 3D Glasses.net, some selling the paper cut-out types in catalogues along with rainbow makers and other novelty toys.

Steve Sechrist
Senior Analyst and Editor

But the real story is that non-cardboard-based 3D glasses makers now include some of the biggest names in consumer electronics. Just look at the current list of 3D Glasses purveyors we’ve assembled to date. Top brands like Panasonic, LG, Samsung, Sony, and Viewsonic, plus Dolby, Pentax, and NVIDIA. Then there’s the 3D Cinema technology companies like XpanD, RealD, Master Image (and Dolby mentioned above) all looking for a foothold in the consumer space. But that’s not all, there’s also the premium glasses suppliers looking to open new 3D niche markets, some with a high-fashion spin (and high price tag to boot), with others offering unique technology. San Diego based iZ3D and Gunnar Optiks (Carlsbad, CA), offer one such solution. MicroVision Optical 3D (San Diego) is sticking to “fashionable” passive glasses in theater market for now–selling in the $30 to $40 range. Bit Cauldron (Gainesville, FL) uses a ZigBee interface to connect its glasses with the 3D source device.

The big name CE makers are in the space with some interesting offerings. LG’s 3D glasses have been around since 2007, and include rechargeable batteries (model AG-S100.) They currently sell (retail) for $199 a pair the same MSRP as the Samsung glasses that also ship with its current 7000 series 3DTVs in both (LCD and PDP) vintages. Panasonic’s 3D Glasses (model TY-EW3D10U) can be found at BestBuy for $149 and it has a new deal with nVidia which will allow their glasses to view content on the Panasonic 3DTV.

For its part, front 3D projection maker Viewsonic just announced a new pair of active-stereo 3D shutter glasses (PGD-150) selling for $99 retail. They are designed to work with Viewsonic’s latest TI based DLP Link 3D Projector (120Hz “3D Ready”) and will probably extend to any DLP Link projector brand.

Viewsonic currently has nine different 3D enabled projector models for sale, all for under $1K, (the PJD6251 XGA is the most expensive at $877.) Most all are XGA with two exceptions, the WXGA (PJD6531w) sells for $714 and the SVGA (PJD45112) is a $460 box from Viewsonic. The company is targeting the classroom with the relatively low cost 3D projector / glasses combination, according to our recent conversation with product manager Erik Willey.

The bad news is that there is very little compatibility from one set of glasses to any 3D display. CEA has a task force to start to address this concern and Insight Media recently provided a report on 3D glasses to 3D @ Home Consortium, for use by CEA in their standardization effort.

Nevertheless, as home 3D technology adoption continues this year and beyond, we think the 3D Glasses space is destine to develop into a full-blown CE category, and from the looks of the web, and companies listed here, we are not alone in this belief. So get ready as a new class of electronic eyewear that just may be poised to dominate the TV accessories category as we move into our second decade of the new century (…forget losing the remote, where in the heck are those 3D glasses?)

Ed. note: Look for a more complete rundown of the 3D Glasses offerings in this month’s Large Display Report that ships on May-Day.

 

Plasma Betting the Farm on 3D

April 20th, 2010

It’s a technology characterized by some in the industry as having “weak demand,” and “…will go away someday.” In the Insight Media 3DTV Forecast report, we note that for TVs more than 30 inches in diagonal, 108K LCD TVs were sold in 2009 vs. 15.2K PDP TVs. That’s a 7:1 sales ratio. But that ratio could tilt toward PDP if you look at only 3DTVs. In fact, makers of the technology are banking on plasma’s ultra fast refresh and ultra high contrast to help deliver less ghosting in a 3D image to give it the winning edge in the emerging 3D home display market.

 

Steve Sechrist
Senior Analyst and Editor

For the last year, Panasonic in particular has been promoting 3D display technology for its plasma panels with hopes of shifting the market back in the direction towards plasma. And a recent Reutersreport quotes Panasonic spokesperson Toshihiko Shibuya saying, “We believe plasma TVs are the best device to offer 3D images thanks to its high response speeds and all this attention on 3DTVs is a strong tailwind for our plasma business.”

Panasonic is long considered the lone Japanese survivor of the PDP shake-out. The company bet heavily on plasma technology early on by investing in new fabs and equipment that lowered the price of production and boosted efficiencies. This gave the company the power to ride the caustic drop in flat panel average selling price (ASP) that hit the industry hard. (For example, Reutersrecently reported industry data stating, “Prices of 42-inch LCD panel dropped around 40% over the past two years…”) Consequently, some PDP manufacturers like Pioneer simply couldn’t remain competitive.

From a purely specification viewpoint, it’s difficult to understand just how plasma lost so much ground in the TV marketplace. Despite vast improvements in LCDs over the past two years, the emissive PDP technology remains superior in contrast, viewing angle and motion display. Fast response is certainly valued when watching fast action sports and popular graphic effects (FX) enhanced action films in 2D, but less so in 3D where the pace of the action wants to be slower to enjoy the 3D effect. But fast response also translates into less ghosting — a huge value proposition. PDP’s high contrast also gives a boost to popular film noir buffs, like those stuck on old B/W movies.

Don’t get me wrong, LCD image quality is stunning, and the ultra-thin (low weight, low power) LED backlit models are very sexy indeed, else, they never could have displaced the PDP king of the display hill. But the relatively slow response time (pixel latency) is causing cross-talk (ghosting) in LCD 3D displays giving PDP’s a window of opportunity to gain ground back from LCDs. What helped 2D LCD TVs out sell PDPs may not go the same way with 3D.

Be that as it may, the thought of the PDP technology going away is painful, and go away it might if the 3DTV initiative falls flat–and the other two major suppliers, Korea’s Samsung and LG (both with large investments in LCD) pull out of the PDP space. Reuters quoted Daewoo securities analyst Will Cho as saying, “PDP won’t be able to challenge LCD as a mainstream flat panel technology as LCD also continues to evolve into better one… Having said that, it still does have strength over LCD, especially in 3D market. So the stronger 3D market grows, the better PDP technology will be able to recover.”

Some believe this recovery will come with a significant boost in 3D Plasma sales. By 2013, Insight Media sees about 1 in 5 3DTVs sold will be PDP technology — a much larger ratio that for 2DTV sales.

Interestingly, 3D may also be throwing out a lifeline to the home front projection space. Long considered an “event viewing” display technology rather than replacement for the conventional TV set, front projection technology offers a plethora of 3D capable projectors almost exclusively based on the TI DLP solution. A quick search at Projectorcentral.com yielded over 50 projectors now shipping with 3D capabilities (excluding Digital Cinema boxes) with prices as low as sub-$500 (Viewsonic PJD62103D selling at $449.) These are almost all XGA resolution projectors, however, and not optimized for home theater operation.

Nevertheless, we can expect many more 3D home theater projectors coming later this year and next. This home 3D approach seems much more plausible to some as users are willing to don a pair of 3D glasses in movie theaters, so, as the reasoning goes, …why not the home theater ‘event viewing’ as well?

While it’s still not certain that 3D can revive the flagging plasma technology in the consumer TV space, Panasonic is certainly doing its part. But to some degree the fate of the company may depend on rivals Samsung and LG’s commitment–not just to 3D but PDP in general, and the market viability that three major vendors in the space, provide. If LG and Sammy pull the plug on their PDP initiatives, could Panasonic go it alone–and survive the LCD juggernaut? Only time will tell.

 

The Ripple Effect of the 3D Boom

February 23rd, 2010

With Avatar, 3D technology has arrived in a big way ($2.4B in worldwide ticket sales and counting…) Some are calling it the seminal film for the 3D format saying the block buster movie is ushering in 3D the same way The Wizard of OZ ushered in Technicolor back in 1939.

Steve Sechrist
Senior Analyst and Editor

But Hollywood is finding the film is impacting the center of the cinema industry, where Avatar is throwing off-track subsequent new film releases, relegating them to a number two spot on their opening weekend. For example, Mel Gibson’s celebrated return to the big screen with his Edge of Darkness grossed $13M less than Avatar ($17.1M vs. $30M) during its opener.

In Hollywood, there is now a 3D film frenzy. An LA Times story yesterday (Unprepared cinema’s face 3D ‘Clash’) reported that, “Movies in 3-D are becoming such big moneymakers that Hollywood studios are cramming them into the nation’s theaters, even though there aren’t enough screens available to give each film its fullest possible run.”

New 3D films are stacking up back to back for release this Spring and with a little fewer than 4,000 theaters enabled with 3D screens in the US, theater owners caught without adequate facilities to show them all, according to the report. Dreamworks (Dragon) and Disney (Alice) have long planned 3D releases around the Spring season, but remakes in 3D like the Warner Clash of the Titans also want in, all at a time when Avatar may still be running, according to the LA Times.

But the ripple effect goes beyond cinema. Perhaps embolden in part by the success of 3D content at the box office (and the opportunity to differentiate their sets with next generation technology), TV makers are now pushing ahead delivery of 3DTV sets into consumer distribution. Sears today announced it is accepting pre-orders for Samsung’s new 46- and 55-inch 3D-enabled LCD/LED flat panel TVs (UN46C7000WFXZA and UN55C7000WFXZA) with US pricing set at $2,600 and $3,300 respectively. The sets don’t ship with 3D glasses, but according to the Sears web site, they are available in most major metro areas within 8 to 10 days of placing an order. They are also available for pre-order through other outlets.

Panasonic also announced last week at its European line show delivery and pricing for the EU market on both 50- and 65-inch 3D enabled PDP sets (50VT20 and 65VT20) that will sell for $3,100 and $6,200 respectively, including one set of active shutter glasses (extra glasses are about $150). The US versions will be available in the May/June time frame but no price was announced.

So as it turns out, Avatar’s mythical 3D planet of Pandora also has a yellow brick road that 3D film makers are taking to the bank. But like too much of a good thing, if they are not careful, they could flood the market with too many new films and saturate the limited number of theaters available to show them. This puts at risk the 3D box office boost that Hollywood is counting on to pay for the added cost of the technology. But fear not, 3D films will find their way to the living room as TV makers ride the next wave of 3D technology, that’s now looking to arrive much sooner than even the Wizard expected. – Steve Sechrist

 

Olympics’ TV Goes 3D

February 16th, 2010

Amid all the sports competition, high drama of gold, silver and bronze medals and compassionate stories of victory through human tenacity and sacrifice, these 2010 Winter Olympic games could already be in the books for an entirely different reason – the 2010 Vancouver games will most likely be the last Winter Olympics broadcast in 2D.

 

Steve Sechrist
Senior Analyst and Editor

Since the 1936 Olympics in Hitler’s Berlin, the worldwide event is a natural draw for new broadcast technology transition. And, like color TV and the more recent HDTV that followed some 40 years later, technology transition for the broadcast industry is often slow in coming, due in part to the expense of ramping up the required new infrastructure. Then there’s that pesky issue of content, broadcast standards and QC (quality control) to deal with-not to mention getting the new TV sets into the homes of consumers.

Still, 3D broadcast from the unlikely Sochi, Krasnodar Krai, Russia (chosen site for the 2014 Winter Games) is a safe bet, given the 4-year Olympic cycle and the fact that part of these ongoing 2010 games are already showing up in limited 3D feeds both locally in Vancouver, BC and elsewhere.

Case in point, Panasonic, probably one of the strongest corporate proponents of the new display technology, opened its Olympic 3D Pavilion in Vancouver BC on the same day as the Opening Ceremony. The 3D venue features Panny’s giant 103-inch 3D plasma behemoth with 1080p images for each eye (120fps.) The company said that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) will produce the 3D video highlights to be shown in the Panny pavilion. Visitors will see the latest in 3D products from the company, including a 50-inch 1080p plasma set with a home-theater system and 3D-ready Blu-ray Disc players-all in an effort to move the mindset of consumers toward the new standard in broadcast television.

Panasonic’s USA CTO Eisuke Tsuyuzaki summed it up this way: “We’ve successfully moved from black and white, to color, to high-definition television. But immersive, totally realistic 3D imagery has been the final frontier [and] with Panasonic’s new line of Full HD 3D products, which will be launched in North America this Spring, we will conquer that as well.” The company is the official A/V sponsor of the Games, and for that honor, Panasonic’s DVCPRO HD recording format is the “official” video format for this Olympics. Panasonic will also contribute video-production and broadcast equipment for the event.

Want more? OK, try going to this Olympics in 3D web site. It offers a look down (Google Earth-like) view of the event on your PC (or streaming TV) and gives you full control of your 3D experience, plus the latest Olympic news, Twitter feeds and more — all in 3D!

Interestingly, as if to demonstrate the speed of new technology adoption, the 2010 Olympics is the first ever to deliver all video feeds in HD, according to Panasonic. And if our prediction is correct and 3D video broadcast dominates in 2014, that “all HD” video feed distinction will have lasted just one 4-year cycle. We’ll see. – Steve Sechrist