Coming to a Classroom Near You...3D!
In addition to all of the digital video, digital signage, and tiled display products being exhibited at InfoComm, a number of projector manufacturers were showing demos of 3D imaging for the classroom. You read that right! Classroom 3D projection is a hot item, and Texas Instruments and its manufacturing partners are ready for it.
That’s because low-cost (below $1,000), off-the-shelf DLP projectors can already handle the rapid sequence of left eye/right eye images needed for active 3D viewing, synchronizing to stereoscopic eyewear using TI’s DLP Link protocol. DLP Link employs some of the pulses from the white color wheel segment to provide picture synch information, and is also compatible with the new crop of LED-powered DLP projectors that were shown in Orlando by Vivitek, projectiondesign, and Christie.
Unlike 3D in the home, which is in my opinion problematic to deliver and view consistently and correctly, 3D projection in the classroom has a strong upside. Imagine a comparative anatomy class wherein a cutaway image of the human body can be rotated, flipped, expanded, and examined at any angle. How about an auto mechanics class on engine disassembly and repair using exploded views? Imagine sailing through the planets in an astronomy class, or walking the framework of a skyscraper under construction?
Based on the demos I saw and test-drove, 3D projection can certainly provide one of the immersive learning experiences that so many educators talk about and dream of having in the 21st century. While it’s not a substitute for all forms of teaching, 3D does make any hands-on instruction much simpler to comprehend, particularly for those students (like I used to be) who have an easier time with the Mr. Wizard approach to learning, as opposed to memorization pages of abstract numbers and formulas.
The list of classroom applications for 3D projection is endless. All that’s needed are appropriate software applications, which were provided by companies including Discovery Education, Safari Montage, Eon Reality and NeoTech for the TI and partner InfoComm demos. 3D projection was also on display in the Sharp, Mitsubishi, Optoma, projectiondesign, BenQ, Christie and other booths.
The timing for 3D classroom projection couldn’t be better, what with federal economic stimulus funds coming to every state from Washington over the next few years. What’s more, interest in and growing mainstream acceptance of 3D projection is being facilitated by each successive 3D movie release from Hollywood.
On another note, it was refreshing to see TI focus on a new application for its DMD chips in Orlando, instead of rehashing the annual ongoing "ours is better than theirs!" spats with the 3LCD trade group that have characterized past InfoComm shows (and which, frankly, have become tiresome to sit through).
Instead, with 3D DLP, TI has a clear marketing and technical advantage in an emerging projector market segment that’s poised for plenty of growth, from my perspective. Now, the question is - how will the 3LCD camp respond to this classic Texas "3D throw-down?"
By Peter Putman, DisplayDaily
