Astra Pushes for 3-DTV Standard

Satellite operator SES Astra is looking to play a role in creating a common standard for plano-stereoscopic - so-called "three-dimensional" - television. The company said this week that it was evaluating the business case for 3-D technology with broadcasters and consumer- electronics manufacturers and that standardization was vital for the creation of any mass-market service.

"For the time being, there is no industry standard and the broadcasters haven't agreed on how they will launch 3-D," said Markus Fritz, SES Astra vice president and general manager of marketing.

"We want to play a leading role to help our industry partners to come to a common industry standard for 3-D HD. We know from many other initiatives that if you don't get people to agree on a common standard you can't reach mass market quickly enough and the whole thing can die again."

Fritz said that SES Astra wanted to apply the experience it had gained from helping broadcasters launch high-definition television (HDTV). He said that during the early stages of HDTV SES Astra convinced all of its customers to discuss their launch plans for HD and set out the minimum technical requirements needed for launch.

"That step still needs to happen for 3-D," Fritz said.

He added that SES Astra was already playing the role of facilitator to get rival consumer-electronics manufacturers to "sit down around a round table and agree on standards".

BSkyB, the UK satellite-television provider, recently announced that it was exploring the commercial launch of 3-D television technology. But Fritz warned that the launch of commercial 3-D services was still some way off, saying:"At the moment, everyone is in testing stage; but between testing and having it in the market it takes some time."

By Julia Glotz, New Media Markets