3DTV at HD Masters Conference
John Bird of the Future Source Consultancy reminded delegates that 3D is not a new idea. The first patent for 3D film processing was granted in 1898, with The Power of Love emerging as the first commercially released 3D movie in 1922. After years in the wilderness the concept was now quite literally back in the public eye, he insisted, with 41 million adult US cinemagoers (16% of the market) watching a 3D film last year.
Some 30% of the 8,700 Dcinemas worldwide were 3D enabled, he claimed. However nearly half (48%) of the Hollywood studios’ income now comes from home video — could 3D TV versions attract a price premium? Research suggested that 50% of TV viewers would be prepared to pay more for a 3D set, said Bird, although how much and for what type of 3D was not revealed. While today’s sub-US$20 polarising spectacles were a useful transitional tool that escaped the cost and complexity of shuttered glasses, he believed that these were not acceptable in the long term.
The ultimate answer was an autostereoscopic technology, but he conceded that this could take at least five years to achieve the high quality and low costs required for a mass market. The obstacles were a lack of standards with competing distribution and display formats, compounded by the allpervading economic downturn.
Bird unveiled a five point plan for a successful 3D TV rollout – early clarity on a Blu-ray 3D format, the showing of 3D movies on cable, satellite and online, sustained commitment to 3D movie production and conversion of classics, made-for-TV productions from 2011, and dual HD/3D-ready TV sets. If all went well, and he admitted it was a big if, take-up in the UK could reach between 6-12% in the UK and up to 45% in the US by 2014. In any event 3D TV must be seen as a long term project, he cautioned.
Bravely entering the lion’s den of 3D TV at HD Masters — which for anybody doubting the connection relies on HD to obtain sufficient resolution — was Chris Johns, Chief Engineer for Broadcast Strategy at BSkyB.
A mixed programme of 16Mbps variable bit rate (VBR) content sent via a secure test channel from BSkyB in Osterley was on display at the conference, received via a standard Astra dish on the new £5,000 46-inch 3D TV set from JVC. Prior to transmission the left and right images were anamorphically squeezed side-by-side into the same picture. In the set, images are expanded to full width and overlaid on the screen, with an opposing polarisation (matching the viewer’s polarised spectacle lenses) applied to each.
Johns pointed out that the more than 1m Sky HD STBs currently deployed, and all the other links in the chain except the viewer’s existing TV, were compatible. Hollywood is pouring millions of dollars into 3D movies with more than 40 currently in production, he said, while cinemagoers seem prepared to pay £3 to £4 more to watch them — so it was only right that options for 3D TV should be explored.
Freely admitting that BSkyB was still learning about 3D TV production, Johns noted that current camera rigs were rather bulky. Whether using a teleprompter-style beam-splitting mirror with one camera mounted vertically, or two cameras mounted side-by-side, rigs could perhaps occupy five otherwise revenue-generating seats at a sport stadium.
However he suggested that the edit cut rate and hence the number of cameras could be reduced to enable the viewer to ‘linger longer’ and explore each scene, an argument reminiscent of that used for early HD coverage. It was also possible to fool the eye to thinking that narrow depth of field 2D shots were 3D if skilfully intercut with ‘real’ 3D.
However Peter Angell, who produced both the 2002 FIFA World Cup in Korea and Japan and the first all-HD 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany and Austria, and is now Director of Production and Programming at Host Broadcast Services including its 3D production arm, could hardly disagree more. “For the World Cup in 2006 we used 18 cameras per match,” he said, “but some 31 will be deployed for each game in 2010. There’s no way we can reduce the number of cameras if we want credible live 3D TV.”
It is estimated that 6% to 10% of the population cannot perceive 3D via mechanical means, while some question whether the brain will ever be capable of believing the presence of depth while being required to focus on a single plane for anything more than short periods.
John Zubrzycki of BBC R&D said that minimising the occurrence of objects out in front of the screen helps reduce eye strain. He also recalled the now-defunct ‘multiview’ project with Philips, in which parallax was added between overlaid displays to create genuine separation between front and back.
Ex-Sony and Snell & Wilcox HD guru Peter Wilson, now Director at High Definition & Digital Cinema Ltd, said that while movie makers could spend time optimising images in post, live 3D TV events ran the risk of inducing nausea. “During live 3D production it’s likely that viewers will inadvertently be presented with images requiring their eyes to diverge, or for one to look up while the other looks down, neither of which is a comfortable experience,” he said.
Another risk was ‘giantism’, caused by the use of long lenses converging at too high an angle. “The brain attempts to resolve pictures apparently viewed by a giant being, leading to the impression that a bunch of dwarves are running around the sports field,” said Wilson. “Given that long lenses are a staple of sports, a whole new grammar will need to be developed for 3D coverage.”
A point of consensus was reached when the panel agreed that nobody expected all TV to be 3D all of the time. However 3D TV’s position as a ‘new services’ topic — and its place on the HD Masters agenda — now seems assured. “There’s a bit of a bun fight currently going on between patent holders, who all believe they will be the next Dolby earning generous licence fees,” said Wilson. “But there’s no doubt that studios are now anxious to set proper 3D production standards via SMPTE.” Further investment was also needed from the consumer electronics industry, added Angell.
By Richard Dean, TVB Europe
