NAB Takes 3D Home

Much of the debate concerning the consumer future of Digital Stereoscopic 3D during NAB in Las Vegas was instigated by the release of the SMPTE task force report ‘3D To The Home’, which specifically concerns the standards needed for, ‘A 3D Home Master that would be distributed, after post production, to the ingest points of distribution channels.’

These would be everything from mobile to satellite, but not cinema. And this master should be envisaged as an uncompressed and unencrypted image format or file package. As a precursor to a future standard that cannot be expected until late next year, this welldefined and helpful document was ridiculed by Sky, which expects 3D to be a consumer reality much quicker than SMPTE can react.

Sky Chief engineer Chris Johns, who is listed amongst the task force contributors, said: “It’s about here and now, not in three years’ time. However, the big question is, what will be the catalyst to make it happen?”

Sky of course has settled on its STB as the scope of its first 3D playground, so for a wider view of the report and any subsequent standard as catalysts, TVBEurope turned to Warner Brothers’ VP of engineering Wendy Aylsworth, who is also Senior VP of Technology with SMPTE.

Aylsworth spoke first about a firm date for a 3D consumer market, and about possible detrimental impacts of the economic recession.

“I think it is reasonably sure we could have the new generation capabilities in the home within three years,” she said. “I don’t think the economy is affecting efforts to create standards. Everything seems to be a go for manufacturers who are investing in this.

“The only direct impact I see on the standards generally is travel to meetings, which means more conference calls. So I still anticipate 3D standards could be published in late 2010. That said, the economy could impact on overall sales of displays and players, and it could impact on the production of new 3D content, both of which could slow the uptake of this new digital format,” she added.

The report suggests we are 60 seconds past the hour in the context of where digital 3D stands. Chris Johns thinks we are at version 0.5.

We are lumbered with 2D legacy equipment and 2D thinking, the requirement to show 2D and 3D versions alongside each other (with all their different scenes and shots) for several years, and then there are issues like the need for broadcast to carry two eyes.

What will the 3D Home Master initiative trigger in terms of market acceleration and follow-up standards? Coming from a film studio, it must at least be the gateway to a new market for Warner Bros?

“Yep, it is,” said Aylsworth. “Something they don’t tell college students is that most engineering is retrofitting! Clearly,we can’t convince consumers to purchase special second devices (display, STB, optical disk players, etc) on which to watch only 3D content. So we have to ensure 2D content can play well on new 3D displays and that 3D content will not make an old 2D display look bad.

“There are many approaches for both of these problems for a variety of different transports. The challenge is to a) design formats that can service both these issues over any transport, and b) design the transport solutions to hopefully be very similar across the various channels. Some transports, like optical disk, are easier to adopt than others like live terrestrial broadcast. I believe that once one transport method makes it to market, the others will rapidly follow suit,” she added.

Wrapped around the core focus on the 3D Home Master are a ton of helpful conceptual data, the full glossary the market has needed, and multiple application cases. What impact did Aylsworth want from NAB?

“I just hoped more people would start thinking about how we provide consumers with a great quality experience,” she said. “And how to achieve that through cohesive, interoperable standards across the many standards bodies that are necessarily involved. Quite a few organisations are liaising with SMPTE and are committed to implementing standards in their areas of expertise: ITU, DVB, ATSC, CEA, SCTE, etc. I am very encouraged by the level of engagement and coordination.

“There are plenty of short cuts, that would allow reasonable quality to reach the consumer sooner, but they may not stand the test of time of being flexible and extensible.We need to have the core standards to be able to last many years without forcing the consumer to frequently buy new equipment,” Aylsworth added. “The logical way to do it is with packaged media.”

Asked about the talent pool needed if digital 3D is going to fly, Aylsworth picked up on the point that experienced people will need re-training.

“There is even a small quantity of experienced people who have been 3D fans for half a century who can help train everyone in 3D production techniques,” she said. “Coupling those people with new production people who have no pre-determined ideas, should allow for new, exciting collaboration.”

By George Jarrett, TVB Europe