Dolby, Nvidia Demo Stereo 3-D at CES

Dolby Labs and Nvidia Corp. will demo separate stereo 3-D technologies at the Consumer Electronics Show this week. Dolby will give a first sneak peek of its approach for playing stereo 3-D video on digital TVs and Blu-ray players. The company, which already is shipping products for 3-D video in theaters, will show its 3-D encoding technology for home products. The company's technology uses a checkerboard pixel pattern similar to techniques employed in current 3-D-ready digital TVs from Mitsubishi and Samsung. It works with existing Blu-ray, HDMI and MPEG products and existing video formats. The technology can be used with active or passive 3-D glasses. Dolby has not said when it might release products based on the approach.

Dolby is the latest of many vendors to announce a direction in stereo 3-D for home products. A handful of industry groups are exploring standards in the field, driven by rising interest from Hollywood studios. Separately, Nvidia will roll out at CES its 3D Vision product, a $199 PC add on for viewing computer games in stereo 3-D. The product includes active shutter glasses, an emitter box and drivers supporting as many as 350 game titles. The product requires use of an Nvidia graphics card and a 3-D-ready TV.

By Rick Merritt, EE Times