JVC 2D to 3D Real-Time Video Conversion
Digital tech has reinvigorated the 3D dream since the cardboard glasses and headaches of yesteryear. JVC showed off a nifty prototype TV at CEATEC outside Tokyo that converts high-def 2D video into what it calls "pseudo 3D" in real time. With the eyewear on, it takes a few moments for your brain to adjust, and then footage of the Alps in spring starts taking on eye-popping depth. It's not exactly convincing enough to want to reach out and touch the wildflowers, though it makes regular flatscreens seem, well, very flat in comparison.
The plastic glasses are still pretty dorky, but viewing is painless - even without the specs (the video is only blurry around the edges). The system can convert conventional or high-definition 2D video (from video cameras, players, games and other sources) to high-def 3D with 1080p signals in real time via a small processor unit.
DVD movies would work well on the system, but not animated films, said Yasunari Suzuki of JVC's Technology Development Division. The firm has no immediate plans to commercialize the converter, but the know how has been licensed to Canada's Sensio Technologies Inc. and JVC is in talks with other players.
By Tim Hornyak, Gizmodo
