HEVC Demonstrates its High Efficiency

HEVC Version 1 demonstrates it has achieved more than 50% bitrate savings compared to MPEG 4 AVC/H.264, the MPEG standards group announced following its 108th meeting held at the beginning of April in Valencia, Spain.

In a verification test campaign of the HEVC, ITU-T Rec H.265 | ISO/IEC 23008-2 compression standard following the finalisation of the standard last year “a formal subjective quality assessment has been executed using a large variety of video material, ranging from wide-screen VGA resolution up to 4K. The material had not previously been used in optimizing HEVC's compression technology”, MPEG, announced in a prepared statement, adding: “Clear evidence was found that HEVC is able to achieve 50% bitrate savings and more, compared to the AVC High Profile”. The results will be made publicly available in the report N14420, to be published on the MPEG website.

HEVC's scope continues to be extended with a call for proposals on Screen Content Coding, the compression of video containing rendered graphics and animation. This extention is scheduled for completion by the end of 2015.

HEVC's 2nd edition includes support for additional colour formats and higher precision. The ‘Range Extensions amendment’, with technology allowing efficient compression of video content for colour sampling formats beyond 4:2:0 and up to 16 bits of processing precision has been finalised. In particular, the lossless and near lossless range of visual quality is more efficiently compressed than is possible with the current version 1 technology.

Web Video Coding the standard for a worldwide, reasonable and non-discriminatory, and free of charge licensable online compression scheme for use in browser has reached the final stage before approval. MPEG expects to complete the Final Draft International Standard in February 2015.

MPEG is also working on standardising what it refers to as ‘free-viewpoint television’. A public seminar on FTV (Free-viewpoint Television) will be held on July 8th to align MPEG's future standardization of FTV technologies with users and industry needs. Targeted application scenarios are Super Multiview Displays “where hundreds of very densely rendered views provide horizontal motion parallax for realistic 3D visualization, extracted from a dense or sparse set of input views/cameras in a circular or linear arrangement”.

“Integral Photography, where 3D video with both horizontal and vertical motion parallax are captured for realistic display”. And “Free Navigation that allows the user to freely navigate or fly through the scene, not just along predefined pathways”.

MPEG expects that future FTV systems will require new functionalities such as a substantial increase in coding efficiency and rendering capability compared to technology currently available. The FTV initiative will also consider novel means for acquiring 3D content that have recently emerged, e.g. plenoptic and light field cameras. You are invited to join the FTV seminar to learn more about MPEG activities in this area and to help revolutionise the viewing experience.

The increases in spatial resolution and colour resolution, scalable coding and autostereoscopic 3D, or in MPEG speak Multi-view, leads to amendments in the trusty old MPEG-TS, transport stream layer. The amendment specifies transport of layered coding extensions for the scalable and multiview enhancements of HEVC, and the signaling of associated descriptors so that different layers can be encapsulated and transported individually.

To support the new standards to offer 4K/8K UHDTV services by using a newly developed MPEG standard, MPEG Media Transport (MMT) an effort to promote the new transport layer standard has begun in Japan with a growing number of companies implementing MMT for various applications. MPEG is organising MMT Developers' Day in conjunction with its 109th meeting this July in Sapporo, Japan.

MPEG is also working on 3D audio and dynamic range control. The DRC system provides comprehensive control to adapt the audio as appropriate for the particular content, the listening device, environment, and user preferences. The loudness control can be applied to meet regulatory requirements and to improve the user experience, especially for content with large loudness variations.

By Donald Koeleman, Broadband TV News

Trifocal Camera Readied for Live 3D

The days of stereo 3D mirror rigs could be numbered if new technology being devised by Arri, the Fraunhofer Institute and Walt Disney Studios comes to fruition.

The trio of companies have just begun a second phase of tests in Berlin on a trifocal camera system that comprises a single Arri M camera sandwiched between two micro HD cameras developed by Fraunhofer, alongside a computer processor.

The dual witness cameras capture enough information on set to be combined into depth maps by Fraunhofer's STAN Stereoscopic Analyzer software (which features in the DVS Clipster post tool), for the post production of live action content in 3D.

The concept would negate the need for cumbersome 3D camera rigs, allow an on-set 3D workflow similar to 2D, and in theory help produce 3D content without the glitches inherent in lens misalignment. Disparity-estimation techniques based on the three captured images should allow a second-eye view to be rendered at a virtual interaxial distance that is defined in post.

“If successful we will go into a third test in April this year and if that is successful it will be used on a major film production,” revealed Kathleen Schroeter, executive manager 3D Innovation Centre, Berlin Fraunhofer Institute.

She said this was currently planned to be a 20-minute short film or a 20-minute sequence within a longer feature, both produced by Disney.

“The current trifocal system is for post production, but the next step is to render the data in real time so that we can produce live broadcast programming without rigs,” she added.

Curiously the initiative has come from Disney in Hollywood, rather than Disney's own research institute in Zurich, which is also exploring ways of creating 3D content using plenoptic lenses and computational cinematography.

By Adrian Pennington, TVB Europe

DVB Steering Board Approves Phase 2a of 3DTV Specification

DVB is pleased to announce that at the 71st Meeting of the Steering Board, Phase 2a of the DVB-3DTV specification was approved. The specification will be submitted immediately to the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) for formal standardisation. An amended DVB-3DTV BlueBook is to be published to reflect the addition to the specification.

The Phase 2a system, also known as “Service Compatible Mode” is designed to meet the needs of those who need to provide normal HDTV receivers with a 2D version of the 3D programme from the same broadcast channel, and at the same time improve the quality of the 3DTV images. Phase 2a provides a 2D version plus an MPEG MVC top-up signal. Although they are tailored to their different environments, both 3D Blu-ray and Phase 2a use MVC, which will enable receivers to include both capabilities.

The 3DTV Phase 1 specification was published in 2011 for “Frame Compatible” delivery, where the essential requirement was that existing HDTV set-top boxes would allow viewers to watch 3D (if they had a 3D display). This is the most used 3DTV broadcast form in the world today.

Source: DVB

ITU Drafts New Recommendations to Boost 3DTV

To get it out of the doldrums it remains in, 3D needs as much help as possible and the latest leg-up has been given by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) the United Nations agency for information and communication technology.

The ITU has drafted a series of recommendations, submitted to its Administrations for accelerated approval, on 3DTV that are intended to promote the further use of this format worldwide and which the ITU hopes will provide much needed tools to evaluate, make, and exchange 3DTV programmes. The ITU’s Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R) has developed the standards in collaboration with experts from the television industry, broadcasting organisations and regulatory institutions in its Study Group 6.

In detail, the new ITU-R Recommendations focus on 720p and 1080i/p HDTV 3DTV programme production and broadcasting with recommendations also agreed on the digital interfaces used in studios for 3DTV programme production, and on the general requirements for 3DTV. The ITU-R Study Group 6 also agreed a Recommendation for the methods to evaluate the quality of 3DTV images, which relates to three aspects, or quality factors: picture quality, depth, and comfort levels.

Source: RapidTV News

Production & Exchange Formats for 3DTV Programmes

The purpose of this EBU recommendation is to give technical aid to broadcasters who intend to use current (or future) 2D HDTV infrastructures to produce 3DTV programmes.

The 3D Production Guide

3net, the 24/7 3D network and 3D television production studio, along with joint venture partners Discovery, Sony and IMAX, announced the release of the most complete guide to 3D television production ever assembled.

Featuring stereoscopic expertise from the top producers and technical advisors of the company and its corporate ownership, The 3D Production Guide has now been made freely available to the public via multiple websites.

The 50-page illustrated manual includes detailed information garnered from the combined 50 years of experience in the area of 3D from those who contributed to its creation. The guide outlines in detail all of the facets involved in creating top-quality 3D content for television, from initial workflow planning, to production, post production, stereographic correction and final delivery.

The guide was authored by Bert Collins, Josh Derby, Bruce Dobrin, Don Eklund, Buzz Hays, Jim Houston, George Joblove and Spencer Stephens, with Bert Collins and Josh Derby serving as editors. It will be constantly updated and amended as the dynamics of 3D television production continue to evolve.

Source: 3net

Tech Upstarts Kicking Glasses in 3D

There's no shortage of innovation from the major TV manufacturers on display at the huge booths at CES: OLED, 4K -- even 8K -- resolution, new interfaces, connectivity, exclusive content. What's absent here, though, are any prototypes to indicate that glasses-free (autostereo) 3D TV is anywhere close to market.

That's not to say that autostereo TV can't be found at CES. It's just coming from smaller companies in smaller booths -- one with barely a booth at all. They are pressing ahead with -- and showing off -- autostereo screens for television, tablets and smartphones while the big makers remain oddly quiet on the topic.

"Consumer electronics companies wanted to get into the home market quickly," said Raja Rajan, chief operating officer of Stream TV, whose booth in Central Hall, of the mammoth Las Vegas Convention Center, is not far from Sony's. "The consumer electronics companies have tremendous financial pressures to get to market with the fastest, easiest technologies."

That is echoed by one of Rajan's competitors, Stephen Blumenthal of 3D Fusion, a late addition to the floor that has one of its models tucked into the 3D Bee booth at the periphery of Central Hall.

"They brought (3D with glasses) to the market as a very straightforward consumer play, and until they burn through the opportunity to make as much revenue off of it as possible, this adventure with the next step is on the back burner," Blumenthal said.

His partner Ilya Sorokin noted, "The 3D with glasses technology was much easier to incorporate into their existing infrastructure because it was already there, and just lying on a shelf."

Both 3D Fusion and Stream TV are using advanced, lens-based tech that, according to Rajan, was abandoned by the big companies.

Rajan said he toured Asia showing Stream TV's screens and its real-time 2D-to-3D converter to major hardware makers, who responded enthusiastically. Stream TV is looking to be a technology provider, not to manufacture under its own name.

"We expect in the next few weeks to start announcing some of the first brands and products rolling out," Rajan said.

He said there is strong interest from Hollywood in the converter box, because it can be built into cable and satellite boxes, enabling all channels to be in 3D. At the same time, Stream's units come with controllers so the consumer can turn the 3D down, or off altogether, for comfort or personal preference.

"Our cost is incrementally 10% to 15% max over the cost of goods for a 2D television," Rajan said. "That's significant because a big re-seller can get into the consumer market at a cost consumers can afford."

MasterImage 3D, which has a solid worldwide business projecting 3D in theaters, is in the South Hall. It has been in the autostereo screen business for some time, and this year is at CES with two screens aimed straight at state-of-the-art mobile devices: a 720p 4.3-inch smartphone display and a WUXGA (1920x1200) display for tablets.

Royston Taylor, exec VP and general manager for MasterImage, said he welcomes the competition from Stream TV, which is also showing tablet screens.

"First, it validates what you're trying to do," Taylor said. "Being on your own is nice in terms of no competition, but it's very lonely in terms of being the only voice saying how great something is. The second thing is competition is always good for the consumer."

Despite strong sales of the Nintendo 3DS, the poor critical response to the 3DS, the HTC Evo 3D phone and the LG Optimus 3D phone have made some makers nervous, Taylor said. He now expects to be making announcements of deals with consumer electronics companies by April and to have gear with MasterImage 3D screens in stores by Thanksgiving.

One hurdle that had to be overcome was the lack of technical standards for judging the quality of a 3D display.

"Right now it's almost entirely subjective," he said. "Big companies won't risk a $250 million phone line on 3D just because it looks nice."

But a French company, Eldim, has come up with a product for testing 3D displays on objective, technical measurements. With standards in place, it will be possible to compare products and establish quality control in manufacturing.

3D Fusion is already selling autostereo TVs for use in digital signage. Blumenthal said the company is selling its turnkey solution, which includes a 42-inch autostereo display, at CES. Cost is $8,000. His sales are to retailers, small mom-and-pop chains, malls. Blumenthal and Sorkin recognize that their company is small and they're in no position to ramp up to consumer volumes on their own. Like Stream TV, they'd be happy to license their technology.

By David S. Cohen, Variety

3-D Cameras for Cellphones

Researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have developed a system that uses specially designed algorithms to produce a detailed 3D image with just a cheap photodetector and the processor power found in a smartphone.

Like other sophisticated depth-sensing devices, CoDAC uses the “time of flight” of light particles to gauge depth: A pulse of infrared laser light is fired at a scene, and the camera measures the time it takes the light to return from objects at different distances.

Traditional time-of-flight systems use one of two approaches to build up a “depth map” of a scene. LIDAR (for LIght Detection And Ranging) uses a scanning laser beam that fires a series of pulses, each corresponding to a point in a grid, and separately measures their time of return. But that makes data acquisition slower, and it requires a mechanical system to continually redirect the laser.

The alternative, employed by so-called time-of-flight cameras, is to illuminate the whole scene with laser pulses and use a bank of sensors to register the returned light. But sensors able to distinguish small groups of light particles — photons — are expensive: A typical time-of-flight camera costs thousands of dollars.

The MIT researchers’ system, by contrast, uses only a single light detector — a one-pixel camera. But by using some clever mathematical tricks, it can get away with firing the laser a limited number of times.

The first trick is a common one in the field of compressed sensing: The light emitted by the laser passes through a series of randomly generated patterns of light and dark squares, like irregular checkerboards. Remarkably, this provides enough information that algorithms can reconstruct a two-dimensional visual image from the light intensities measured by a single pixel.

In experiments, the researchers found that the number of laser flashes — and, roughly, the number of checkerboard patterns — that they needed to build an adequate depth map was about 5 percent of the number of pixels in the final image. A LIDAR system, by contrast, would need to send out a separate laser pulse for every pixel.

To add the crucial third dimension to the depth map, the researchers use another technique, called parametric signal processing. Essentially, they assume that all of the surfaces in the scene, however they’re oriented toward the camera, are flat planes. Although that’s not strictly true, the mathematics of light bouncing off flat planes is much simpler than that of light bouncing off curved surfaces. The researchers’ parametric algorithm fits the information about returning light to the flat-plane model that best fits it, creating a very accurate depth map from a minimum of visual information.

Click to watch the video

Indeed, the algorithm lets the researchers get away with relatively crude hardware. Their system measures the time of flight of photons using a cheap photodetector and an ordinary analog-to-digital converter — an off-the-shelf component already found in all cellphones. The sensor takes about 0.7 nanoseconds to register a change to its input.

That’s enough time for light to travel 21 centimeters, Vivek Goyal from MIT’s Research Lab of Electronics, says. “So for an interval of depth of 10 and a half centimeters — I’m dividing by two because light has to go back and forth — all the information is getting blurred together”.

Because of the parametric algorithm, however, the researchers’ system can distinguish objects that are only two millimeters apart in depth. “It doesn’t look like you could possibly get so much information out of this signal when it’s blurred together,” Goyal says.

The researchers’ algorithm is also simple enough to run on the type of processor ordinarily found in a smartphone. To interpret the data provided by the Kinect, by contrast, the Xbox requires the extra processing power of a graphics-processing unit, or GPU, a powerful special-purpose piece of hardware.

“This is a brand-new way of acquiring depth information,” says Yue M. Lu, an assistant professor of electrical engineering at Harvard University. “It’s a very clever way of getting this information.” One obstacle to deployment of the system in a handheld device, Lu speculates, could be the difficulty of emitting light pulses of adequate intensity without draining the battery.

But the light intensity required to get accurate depth readings is proportional to the distance of the objects in the scene, Goyal explains, and the applications most likely to be useful on a portable device — such as gestural interfaces — deal with nearby objects. Moreover, he explains, the researchers’ system makes an initial estimate of objects’ distance and adjusts the intensity of subsequent light pulses accordingly.

Telecoms company Qualcomm has awarded the research team one of $100,000 Innovation Fellowship grants to continue the research.

By Larry Hardesty, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

iPlayer3D Update

The Digital Service Development group led by Phil Layton in BBC R&D was involved in the previous trial of 3D at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships this year and also the recently broadcast Strictly Come Dancing Grand Final. In this post Dr Peter Cherriman and Paul Gorley outline the work they did to determine if it was possible to put 3D content onto the Freeview and Freesat versions of TV iPlayer.

Generally 3D requires a high bitrate to achieve good stereoscopy. If the video bitrate is too low, depth cues are lost and the 3D becomes tiring to watch. However, due to varying Internet speeds, the higher the bitrate on iPlayer, the less people that are able to watch it. So we had the challenging task of trying to producing high quality 3D at as low a bitrate as possible.

Our 3D television broadcasts on Freeview, Freesat, Sky and Virgin all use a side-by-side frame-compatible format. This combines the Left and Right eye views into a single HD signal, by anamorphically squashing horizontally each eye's view into half of the HD frame, so they appear side-by-side. This HD signal was compressed at resolution of 1920x1080i25, which means 25 interlaced frames per second each of which is comprised of 1920 pixels across and 1080 lines. Each interlaced frame comprised of two fields, each field is 1920x540 pixels, and the fields are captured 1/50th of a second apart.

In order to produce the best quality 3D we decided to use a recording made in Blackpool, rather than use the broadcast feed received via satellite. This had a number of advantages, it meant we weren't limited to the side-by-side 3D format and the recording would have less compression artefacts.

We did a number of experiments with different resolutions and determined the best compromise for bitrate and quality was to convert the recorded 1920x1080i25 interlaced signal for each eye into a non-interlaced 1280x720p50 signal using a professional cross-converter. The intermediate signal created is at 50 frame per second, where each frame is 1280x720 pixels for each eye.

We then needed to convert the pair of 1280x720p50 signals into a standardised frame-compatible format. The preferred frame-compatible format for 1280x720p50 signals is to anamorphically squash vertically each eye signal into half the HD frame, the so-called top-bottom or over-under format. This results in 1280 by 360 pixels per eye per frame.



Our broadcasts use side-by-side format, however this requires horizontal squashing of the picture which degrades the stereoscopic depth cues. These would be further degraded for a 1280x720 image format. Vertical squashing used in the top-bottom format preserves more of this depth information, but the rescaling required in a receiver is much harder for the interlaced broadcast format which is why it's not used.

We found that our broadcast video encoders were much more efficient at encoding this 1280x720p50 signal than the existing software encoders. The bespoke workflow of this experiment allowed us to trial the use of broadcast encoders for iPlayer content. We tested with a wide range of 3D material, but the most challenging of which was the Strictly Come Dancing 3D footage, shown in cinemas, for last year's Children in Need. By using HE-AAC audio encoding we were able to minimise the audio bitrate required. This enabled us to create good quality 3D at a constant total bitrate of less than 5Mbit/s. You should notice the improved quality of the iPlayer 3D pictures in terms of less compression artefacts, and smoother motion due to the 50 frames per second, which is twice the framerate of standard iPlayer.

The next challenge was to modify the file to be suitable to upload to the iPlayer platform. The Freesat receivers required a MPEG Transport Stream (ISO/IEC 13818-1), which is produced directly by the broadcast video encoders.



However, FreeviewHD receivers require a mp4 file. When we used our standard software tool to create the mp4 files we found that the audio and video was not in-sync on some receivers. The mp4 files contain metadata to indicate how to synchronise the video and audio. However, it seems some receivers assume the first frame of video should be synchronised with the first frame of audio and don't make use of this metadata. Using a alternative tool, we were able to create mp4 files which played in-sync on all receivers available to us, including those which previously seemed to ignore this synchronisation metadata.

We don't yet know what the future of 3D will be, but these experiments have demonstrated another platform on which 3D content can be delivered to viewers.

By Ant Miller, BBC R&D

1080p and 3-D Developments

Viewers and producers both seek a more realistic viewing experience from cinema and television systems. There are several ways to make the television more immersive. Three paths that are being followed include increasing the field of view, adding depth perception and improving motion rendition.

Wider Field of View
We view television as a small 2D window on the world restricting us to the role of a voyeur rather than “being there.” The cinema has toyed with Cinerama, IMAX and Omnimax to give a very wide field of view. In the case of Omnimax, the field of view matches our peripheral vision.

Current HDTV was originally conceived to increase the field of view of 10 degrees with SD to around 30 degrees. However, binocular human vision subtends over 120 degrees. The UHDTV or Super Hi-Vision (SHV) project aims to increase the field of view to 80 to 100 degrees by raising the resolution to 8K.

Current HDTV originally increased the field of view to about 30 degrees.
Super Hi-Vision aims to improve it up between 80 and 100 degrees.

Depth Perception
One route to increased realism and immersion is to add depth information to video, with stereoscopic 3-D (S3D) being the first implementation. S3D is a long way from true 3-D, in that it creates a planar presentation at a fixed viewpoint and reproduces depth through binocular disparity. The depth budget of the production has to be managed as to avoid the eyestrain that results from objects being placed away from the display plane.

To achieve true representation of depth in the scene, the television system would have to reproduce the light field. Conventional flat-panel displays only carry intensity and color information at each pixel. A light field display also carries information about the direction of light rays, which allows objects to be viewed in front or behind the plane of the display. However, S3D is an affordable compromise, and consumer versions of light field systems are a long way off.

Scanning Rates
One side effect of increasing the field of view is that our eyes are more sensitive to flicker at the periphery of vision. Scanning rates of 24fps, 25fps or 30fps date back to pre-World War II technologies in film and television cameras. Those were the minimum rates that would work but still have always suffered motion artifacts.

With film, it is temporal aliasing (the car wheel rotating the wrong way), and with television the well-known artifacts of interlace. For high-resolution systems, 25fps is simply just not adequate. We have already seen the way forward with 720p/60 broadcasts in the U.S. and high-frame rate cinema — pioneered by Douglas Trumball with the 60fps Showscan film system. It has now become much easier with digital cinema.

The current recommended EBU HDTV systems include system 4, 1080p/50, although broadcasters have not yet adopted the system for transmission. Research by the Super Hi-Vision team at NHK indicates a minimum frame rate of 120fps would have to happen in order to avoid flicker on the large screen of their system and to give motion portrayal worthy of the static resolution.

As viewers' expectations of picture quality increase, current 1080i/25 systems are showing the extent of their limitations. The biggest is interlace, a 1920s technology that is stubborn in its refusal to lie down. We have the curious situation where receiver manufacturers market sets as 1080p; however, decoders only support 1080i/25 or 720p/50. Sure, the panels are progressive, but that is how they work.

Looking Forward
We are where we are with the crude technology of interlace and all its attendant artifacts. Even if it could be argued that viewers don't notice the artifacts, one fact is inescapable: It is more complex to encode to MPEG standards with the result of a lower compression efficiency than progressive scan video. Interlaced systems must also reduce the vertical resolution of graphics — anti-aliasing — to avoid interline twitter, with the result that the potential resolution of the system is halved.

Comprehensive viewing tests by the EBU have demonstrated that 1080p/50 can be transmitted at the same bit rate as existing 1080i/25 services, but with a better picture quality on large displays.

Most television receivers do not have the necessary performance in the decoder to support the AVC Level 4.2 that is required for 1080p/50 signals, and this remains an obstacle for migration to all-progressive services. It will change as receivers become more sophisticated and add support for DVB-T2 and for AVC level 4.2.

Producers look to maintain the value of their investments into the future. We already see SD channels commissioning HD programming with a eye on the future. New formats like S3D are gaining a niche following among viewers, but Super Hi-Vision — 4K and 8K — is going to set a new benchmark for video quality.

3Gb/s
Many broadcasters have an infrastructure that is largely 1.5Gb/s, for 1080i/25 or 720p/50, or even 270Mb/s standard definition. New builds are now predominately 3Gb/s, so the world is gradually moving to a position where 1080p/50 is supported by acquisition and post-production equipment. However, there remains a huge legacy of interlaced material in the program archives.

Mastering in 1080p/50 provides a file that can be transformed to 1080i/25 and 720p/50 without the artifacts inherent in crossconverting current interlaced or 720-line masters. Furthermore, much television content is consumed on inherently progressive devices like LCD TVs, PCs and tablets.

The 3Gb/s infrastructure also lends itself to the carriage of stereo signals, as a 3Gb/s can operate as two SMPTE292 1.5Gb/s links, for left and right. These could be 720p/50, 1080p/25 or 1080i/25.

SHV
As the NHK-sponsored project to find new levels of realism progresses, every aspect of the production chain, from cameras to displays, is evolving to support this high-res standard. There are many obstacles yet to overcome, with the delivery of such high-data rates to the viewer being perhaps the most challenging. The uncompressed SHV signal is around 48Gb/s, and using current compression techniques would need a bandwidth of up to 400MHz, beyond current satellite transponders, FTTH systems or optical discs.

3-D Reproduction
The most basic form of 3-D television is fixed view stereoscopic. It gives the illusion of depth, but every viewer gets the same view, irrespective of his or her position relative to the display. Stereo 3D effectively delivers a single view from a pair of cameras directly to the left and right eyes via separate, respective channels. Potential advances in technology could realize a free viewpoint, where the scene changes as the viewer moves from side-to-side.

Early coding schemes have used simple delivery of the left-right streams of a stereoscopic system to a display by spatially multiplexing left and right signals into the existing television frame. The display demultiplexes and displays the two channels using temporal multiplexing and shuttered eyewear, or though passive techniques based on polarization.

Frame Compatible S3D
Two general forms of spatial multiplexing are used, called Side-by-Side (SbS) and Top-and-Bottom (TaB). This is called Frame Compatible Plano-Stereoscopic 3D-TV.

Frame-compatible S3D sacrifices horizontal resolution (SbS) or vertical resolution (TaB) in the process of spatially multiplexing the L and R images streams. Frame-compatible in the first-generation implementation is not compatible with a 2D service, so it requires a simulcast to serve 3-D and 2D viewers. Extensions to standards to add support for signaling, which already exist within AVC standards, would allow future STBs to select, say, the left channel for the 2D viewer.

Service Compatible S3D
There are alternative methods of transmission that provide a service compatible with 2D viewers. One is the Scalable Video Coding (SVC), which forms part of AVC. This allows additional data to be carried that basic decoders can ignore.

The depth difference information could be carried as an additional channel to the base 2D channel, and suitable STBs could use that to reconstruct the left and right signals. MPEG-C Part 3 (ISO/IEC 23002-3) specifies a 2D+Depth coding scheme.

There is much redundancy between the left and right views, and this can be exploited in compression schemes much in the same way as the interframe compression in long-GOP MPEG.

The DVB has released a 3DTV specification (A154) detailing frame-compatible 3DTV service standards. Future compliant receivers could utilize signaling carried in the AVC supplemental Enhancement Information (SEI) to automatically manage mixed 2D and 3-D broadcasts to 3-D, or to 2D-only receivers. The specification is aligned with HDMI 1.4 and supports TaB and SbS multiplexing.

Multiview Video Coding (MVC)
Another extension to AVC, the Multiview Video Coding (MVC), allows multiple viewpoints to be encoded to a single bit stream, and then decoded to 2D, stereo or multi-view to suit the display device. Typically, this can be used with two viewpoints (stereo high profile), with true multiple viewpoint capture (multiview high profile) to be used in the future. MVC uses temporal and inter-view prediction to remove redundant information across views.

The Blu-Ray Disc Association updated its specification to support 3-D using MVC encoding. The format allows existing players to decode a 2D signal from 3-D discs. Through the use of MVC, the BDA claims it can achieve the quality of separate L/R stream at 75 percent of the data rate.

Summary
As broadcasters move to a 3Gb/s infrastructure, and if and when a large proportion of receivers support H.264 level 4.2, the way is clear to move to 1080p/50.

The pace of change is accelerating, and for consumers each change — DVB-T to T2, MPEG-2 to AVC and 2D to 3-D — involves a new STB. The devices are rarely forward-compatible, and they are designed to a price where every cent counts. The days of a receiver lasting for a decade or more look set to be placed with constant obsolescence. Issues remain as to how the data rates of an 8K system can be delivered to consumers, although many would say 4K would suffice for the foreseeable future.

By David Austerberry, Broadcast Engineering

Argentine TV in 3D HD over DTT Breakthrough

A team of scientists and engineers in Argentina have carried out the world's first successful experimental transmission of a 3D Full HD video signal over a digital terrestrial television (DTT) channel.

According to technology website RedUSERS, at 17:31 local time on Friday engineers Francisco Carrá and Oscar Nuncio (technical manager and technical sub-manager of Argentine public broadcaster Channel 7) were able to verify the reception of the 3D signals. These had been broadcast via one of the new antennas being erected in the country, and transmitted through a regular ISDB-T channel.

A video compression catalyser designed and developed by Mario Mastriani, head of the Images and Signals Laboratory at the National University of Tres de Febrero (UNTREF), was at the heart of the system.

The device boosts the video compression level of H.264/MPEG-4 Part 10 (or AVC) codecs by a factor of four. With the help of this component, the team was able to broadcast the 3D signals in 1080p (Full HD) quality, but critically using the same bitrate currently utilised to transmit a 2D HD channel (in 1080i) via DTT. No additional latency to that typically seen in H.264 transmissions was observed during the tests.

The images were captured with a Panasonic 1080p-3D camera, while a NEC encoder was also used. The arriving signal was decoded with an ISDB-T USB device connected to a PC fitted with Nvidia SDI and Nvidia Quadro 6000 input/output video cards. The obtained signal was routed into a 3D HDTV video activity monitor, while the output signal was routed into a standard 3D screen.

According to RedUSERS, the same receiving setting could be easily replicated in a conventional set-top box, whose only additional requirement would be the incorporation of a 3D image processing chip.

Back in January 2011, British firm Motive Television had announced the development of set-top box software able to deal with 3D TV content broadcast via DTT. The Motive technology, branded as 3VOD, was first deployed in Italy by Silvio Berlusconi's broadcaster Mediaset.

By Juan Pablo Conti, RapidTVNews

Energy Efficient and Robust S3D Video Distribution Enabled with Nomad3D CODEC and 60 GHz Link

This white paper describes a 3D Video Distribution scheme using the new wireless 60 GHz standard for connectivity and Nomad3D 3D+F 3D CODEC. It will be shown that a specially dedicated Video Delivery System using 60 GHz Modems and the 3D+F CODEC is very efficient in overall system power consumption and more robust to channel impairments.

Source: Nomad3D

Getting Machines to Watch 3D for You

The advantages of automatic monitoring of multiple television channels are well known. There are just not enough eyeballs for human operators to see what is going on. With the advent of stereoscopic 3D in mainstream television production and distribution, the benefits of automatic monitoring are even greater, as 3D viewing is even less conducive to manual monitoring.

This paper, presented at IBC 2011, gives a comprehensive introduction to a wide range of automatic monitoring possibilities for 3D video. There are significant algorithmic challenges involved in some of these tasks, often involving careful high-level analysis of picture content. Further challenges arise from the need for monitoring to be robust to typical processing undergone by video signals in a broadcast chain.

By Mike Knee, Consultant Engineer, R&D Algorithms Team, Snell

Active Retarder - Dead or Alive?

In the 3DTV space, the debate still rages over the merits of shutter glasses vs. passive polarized glasses using Film Pattern Retarder (FPR) technology. While Samsung was singing the praises of shutter glasses, it also had a plan to offer a passive polarized solution in partnership with RealD. Now, the future of this approach is clouded since RealD revealed that its deal with Samsung to manufacture the panels will not go forward.

Active retarder technology is a way to create passive polarized 3D viewing on a flat panel display. It does this by bonding an additional LCD panel to the main imaging panel, instead of bonding a FPR polarizer sheet, which is the approach favored by LG Display. The main advantage of the active retarder approach is the ability to deliver the full native resolution of the panel to each eye in 3D mode. The main disadvantage is the cost and weight of the second LCD panel.

The technology was first shown several years ago at SID by LG Display. At the same time, it also showed its film patterned retarder technology. Subsequently, LG Display slowed down active retarder development and focused on FPR technology, which was introduced into TVs one year ago. Since then, it has seen tremendous success with many brands adopting and doing well selling the approach.

Meanwhile, RealD and Samsung partnered to show prototypes of active retarder TVs (called RDZ by RealD and Active Shutter by Samsung) at CES 2011 and again at SID’11. As we noted in our coverage at the time, the performance was very good and indeed improved by SID. At that time, we were told that Samsung would offer active shutter monitors by the end of 2011 and move into TV production in 2012.

When we asked about the extra cost of the active shutter panel, RealD acknowledged it was an issue but implied they had a plan that would make this a cost affordable component.

So what happened? According to an engadget article, RealD CEO Michael Lewis told reporters that the Korean manufacturer simply "had a recent management change, reviewed all their projects and decided not to go forward."

While it is reasonable to assume that Samsung had a strategic review of all display technologies and decided active shutter would not make the cut, there were probably additional factors at play. One was the difficult economic climate that has hurt TV sales and shifted consumer attention to smartphones and tablets. Samsung could easily have seen better return on investment in this area compared to TVs.

Another factor may have been technology. Was the team able to meet their cost and manufacturing targets to offer competitive TVs in the desired timeframe? My guess is that there were indeed some problems in this area and the only practical way to address the cost and weight issues is to create plastic LCD. Commercializing this in monitor and TV sizes is a big challenge and was likely going to require additional investment and time.

And let’s not forget the competitive aspect vs. patterned retarder technology commercialized by LG Display and a host of TV partners. Remember, over the last year, Samsung and LG have slung mud at each other over the image quality of the patterned retarder vs. shutter glass approach. Samsung claims that shutter glasses deliver the full native resolution of the panel per eye whereas FPR delivers only half the vertical resolution per eye. LG says not true, and has backed that up with a series of independent test results that validate the image quality is FHD in 3D mode.

This argument is essentially being settled by consumers who are voting with their purchases. While active shutter sets continue to increase in sales, film patterned retarder sales have come on strongly in the last year. Some brands are now converting their lines from shutter glasses to all film patterned retarder models. While the active retarder approach can deliver FHD per eye, the image quality - and tricks that LG plays with film patterned retarder, is very close to FHD per eye, so the advantage is minimized.

Finally, 3DTV is not as hot as it once was with Connected/Internet/Smart TVs likely to create more excitement with consumers in the near term.

Putting it all together, arguments that made sense 1-2 years ago, don’t seem to make as much sense today. It may be all of these, and possibly some other reasons, why Samsung pulled the plug on active shutter.

Lewis noted that RealD remains "bullish on the technology" and will explore opportunities with "other potential partners." In addition, AUO is now active in the space. At FPD International they debuted a surprise product - a 46-inch 3DTV using a scanning retarder approach.

So is the technology dead or alive? I guess I will leave it to you to judge for yourself.

By Chris Chinnock, Display Daily

G-Tech Rolls Out 3D Cover Glass Solutions

G-Tech Optoelectronics (GTOC), an affiliate of Foxconn Electronics, has rolled out 3D cover glass solutions and is likely to win orders from branded smartphone vendors in the first half of 2012, according to industry sources.

GTOC has been cooperating with a total of five handset makers on the development of 3D cover glass for six months and the five makers are expected to begin volume production of smartphones and tablet PCs using GTOC's cover glass, the sources noted.

GTOC is expected to debut on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TSE) soon. The company posted revenues of NT$5.3 billion (US$175.97 million), net profits of NT$752 million, and an EPS of NT$3.80 in the first three quarters of 2011.

By Yenting Chen and Steve Shen, DigiTimes

Apple 3D Display is Groundbreaking According to Insider

Apple is working on a glasses-free 3D display that—according to an insider—will reinvent the way consumers perceive 3D. This was already discussed in Steve Jobs’ biography. Our Apple insider tells us that this display may not be limited to just television sets.

“We have prototypes of many different sized 3D displays—all the way from 3.5 inches to 32 inches. These displays are nothing like the glasses-free 3D displays that have a very narrow sweet spot for viewing. I can’t even describe how amazing they are. You’ll hear more about this by the middle of the year.”

Los Angeles industry analyst Paul Mueller believes that Apple could help the crawling 3D market really take off. “Consumers—in general—still believe 3D is a gimmick. Right now, Apple is the only company that can convince them it isn’t.”

By Daryl Deino, LA Gadgets Examiner

The Hobbit - Production Diary Video

Click to watch the video
Source: YouTube

Global Technology Moves to the Motion of Israeli Sensors

At the end of August, there were only four major players competing over the dominance over the 3D motion sensor market which develops technology for capturing body motion and converting it into digital information for games, home appliances and cellular devices.

Three of the four contenders, which own leading patents in the industry, are well known giant corporations Microsoft, Apple and Qualcomm. The fourth is a small Israeli company named XTR otherwise known as Extreme Reality. The Israeli company developed technology that can turn any digital or web camera into a state of the art 3D sensor.

XTR, however, is not the only Israeli company which deals in motion capturing technology. The most well known Israeli company in the field is PrimeSense which sells 3D motion sensors to Microsoft. The company supplies Microsoft with millions of PCBs at $10 a piece and estimates are that it cut a $100 million coupon on the sales of 10 million unites of Kinect – Microsoft's motion sensor which is based on Primesense's technology.

Military Vision Systems
Sunday Calcalist revealed that another Israeli company is joining the war between the technology giant over the 3D sensor market: Intel is negotiating with Invision for the $50 million acquisition of the small Israeli company. In the long run, Invision's technology will enable Intel to launch 3D vision chips and software and market them to television, game console, smartphone and tablet manufacturers.

The three Israeli companies are not alone: a number of other Israeli companies deal in the development of image processing technologies that incorporate complex algorithms and electro-optics to produce 3D vision systems.

"Many of these technologies came out of the army", explains XTR founder David Geva in an interview with Calcalist. "Many military engineers migrated to the civil industry and it is only natural that the industry is developing in Israel".

'Now They All Want a Piece'
PrimeSense CEO Inon Bracha has another take on the profusion of companies in the digital imaging industry – the success of his own company.

"When Ceragon Communications was established, many companies were founded in an attempt to reproduce its success but there is only one Ceragon. Most companies in Israel were not able to raise funds until the Kinect became a success and now everyone wants a piece of the action."

Izhar Shay from Canaan Partners VC fund, a key investor in PrimeSense, believes that image processing expertise is not enough and attributes Israel's success to the required multidisciplinary know-how that the local market can offer.

"In order to develop a 3D vision controller, you need knowledge in video, signal development, electro-optics, ergonomics and cognitive psychology on top of expertise in all aspects of the program. It's hard to find such a combination of fields like Israel has", he says.

Shay was not surprised by Intel's intention to enter the content field and notes the giant's expansion strategy, acquiring, for example, McAfee security software developer for $7 billion and more recently its acquisition of two Israeli companies unrelated to the PCB industry – Graphtech which develops technology for the transfer of video and data from PCs to cell phones and Telmap which develops navigation applications.

However, Bracha still recalls Intel's last floundering attempt to penetrate the smart-home market when it acquired Israeli Oplus for $100 million. "Intel cannot change its skin and become a different company. Some things money can't buy".

Aside from PrimeSense, all the companies below are up for sale. As they develop small components for large systems which give the competitive edge to technology giants such as Microsoft and Intel, chances are high that the acquisition spree will continue. Calcalist marks the candidates for the next exits.

PrimeSense: the Chip that Found its Way into Kinect
In 2009, Microsoft's hardware division execs had to make a decision which sensor technology to incorporate into the Kinect system, the popular Xbox 360 motion sensor. They deliberated between two Israeli companies, 3DV and PrimeSense and eventually decided to go with both and acquired the 3DV employees and a license to use PrimeSense's technology as the latter turned down the acquisition offer.

However, Microsoft was more impressed by PrimeSense's technology – its chip met the high performance standards and could capture body movements of more people from greater distances and under various light conditions. 3DV was dumped at a loss and its employees stayed on to support PrimeSense's technology.

The rest is history: since Kinect's launch in the beginning of the year, over 10 million devices have been sold – 8 million within the first two months – a Guinness world record for the sales of a single electronic device.

PrimeSense is not stopping at computer games though. The company is examining smart house technologies for hands-free operation of consumer electronics.

In the meantime, PrimeSense has launched pilots with megs manufacturers such as Asus, Lenovo and Chinese giants Haiel and Hisense. However, entering new markets is no mean feat. Bracha notes that global slowdown effects consumer indices and considerably impedes the introduction of 3D into other areas of life.

Product: 3D motion controller that captures body motion and detects facial features
Founded in 2006 by Aviad Maizels, Alex Shafonet Dima Reis, Ofir Sharon and Tamir Berliner
CEO: Inon Bracha
Location and employees: Tel-Aviv, 200
Capital raised: $80 million
Investors: Silverlake, Canaan, Genesis, Gemini
Clients: Microfost, Asus, Lenovo
Estimated earnings for 2010: $80 million

MobilEye: Impact Alert
Mobileye was founded by one of Israel's leading specialists in image processing, Professor Amnon Shasua from the Hebrew University and colleague Ziv Aviram who is the company CEO.

Over the past decade, the company raised $157 million and became a global leader in impact detection sensors. Mobileye technology does not translate body motion to VR data like the rest of the companies mentioned here but it uses body motion to detect nearby pedestrians or vehicles.

Product: Vehicles impact detection sensors
Founded in 1999, by Professor Amnon Shashua and Ziv Aviram
Location and employees: Jerusalem, 200
Capital raised: $157 million
Investors: Glenrock, Leumi Partners, Goldman Sachs, UMI, Yacov Shahar. Ari Steimatzky, Israel Kaz
Clients: Clal Insurance, Eldan, Hertz, Avis, BNP Paribas

Invision: Intel's Response to Microsoft's Kinect
Last sunday Calcalist revealed that Intel is negotiating over the acquisition of Invision Biometrics – an upcoming company previously unpublicized which operates under a cloak of secrecy.

The company's products are based on patents developed in the laboratory of Professor Ron Kimmel's, a Technion image processing expert. The company's initial development was a 3D human model developed in Professor Kimmel's lab.

Only after PrimeSense's success, its founders conceived the idea to register their technology as a patent and sell it to technology giants. The Technion is on of the company's prime shareholders.

Intel will probably incorporate Invision's patent with other recently acquired patents by Israeli startup Omek Interactive which raised $7 million last summer. Invision's technology will constitute the "eyes" of the motion sensors.

It should be noted that while the market dubs Invision Intel's PrimeSense, Invision is a young company which has yet to develop an existing product and is surely not on equal financial footing as PrimeSense.

In fact, Invisions holds PCB design patents but has not yet produced one. The first chips based on the company's technology will probably be developed by Intel in the event that the acquisition comes to fruition.

Product: 3D sensor PCB patent
Founded in 2011, by Sagi Ben Moshe, Professor Ron Kimmel and Lior Ben Hur
Location and employees: Yokneam, 10
Capital raised: $2-3 million
Investors: Olaf Roge, Nutcracker

XTR: A Real Alternative to Primesense
Extreme Reality (XTR) is the developer of gesture control interface and motion capture software which can use input from 2D cameras. The technology aims to make high cost sensors such as the Kinect redundant. XTR's software can be installed on cell phones, computers, tablets and television sets with simple 2D cameras.

Since the company's technology can process a wide range of information and costs only several of dollars, it may to be a real alternative to Primesense's chip that sells for $10 a piece.

Similarly to PrimeSense, XTR's technology captures real time 3D full body motion and converts the information into player motion. XTR provides external developers with a software bundle to which they can tack on their own applications. Texas Instruments has already begun incorporating XTR's technology in its top box and cell phone boards.

Recently, the company has undergone expansion and reorganization which placed former executive at Modu and Next Technologies Elad Dubzinski at the helm.

Despite being a veteran company, XTR has yet to take a leading position on the market and it is PrimeSense that created a market niche with a successful product with sales in the tens of millions of dollars.

Product: 3D capture software
Founded in 2005 by Dor Givon
Location and employees: Headquarters in Herzliya and sales office in Tokyo; 28
CEO: Elad Dubzinski
Capital raised: $4-5 million
Investors: Texas Instruments
Clients: Texas Instruments

EyeSight: Change Channels With a Gesture
Eyesight delivers short range gesture recognition technology and deals in 2D motion analysis. Eyesight's technology enables touch free operation of cell pones and television sets.

In its former years, Eyesight focused on cell phone technology and developed hands-free interfaces for Nokia smartphones enabling users to operate their phone using hands gestures.

Recently, the company expanded its operations and as Chinese TV manufacturer Hisense has begun delivering the technology in its television sets. Eyesight had also signed a cooperation agreement with Chinese content company Huan TV which develops applications for digital TV.

Product: Gesture recognition based software
Founded in 2004 by Zvika and Itay Katz
Location and employees: Tel-Aviv; 20
Capital raised: $4 million
Investors: Eli Talmor and Rami Lipman
Clients: Hisense and Huan TV

Omek Interactive: The Brains Behind the Sensor
Whereas Inovision is considered Intel's future 3D sensor hardware supplier, startup company Omek Interactive is regarded as the "brains" behind the sensor. The company's software maps image depth and the company develops a software bundle which may be used by external developers to develop image depth based applications.

Omek's application operates on 3D cameras such as the Kinect but cannot operate by 2D cameras such as cell phones or web cams which makes the company's operations complementary to that of Primesense rather than posing competition.

The company plans to further develop the technology for digital set-top boxes, mobiles and game consoles but depends on the incorporation of 3D cameras in such devices. So far, Omek Interactive has recruited several business partners among them Lenovo and Panasonic.

Product: 3D sensor technology which maps image depth
Founded: 2007, by Janine and Gershom Kutliroff
Location and employees: Beit Shemesh; 55
Capital raised: $14.4 million
Investors: Intel, Zitlman, FF Assets, Everett, Chestnut
Clients: Lenovo, Panasonic

Side-Kick: 3D Game Developer
Side-Kick is a global 3D gaming pioneer – even before the Kinect stormed the markets last year, the company launched two of its games for the Chinese game console iSec produced by Lenovo's subsidiary, Eedoo.

Side-Kick's technology can operate on any motion controller, especially Kinect which is installed in over 10 million Xbox devices.

Side-Kick's founders are well seasoned game developers: Bendov founded prominent gaming companies in Israel such as Double Fusion; Raviv worked at US gaming company Eidos and Sela founded the animation lab at the JVP media compound in Jerusalem.

Product: 3D sensor-based games
Founded in 2010 by Gay Bendov, Asaf Sela and Tal Raviv
Location and employees: Bnei Nrak; 7
Capital raised: $600,000
Investors: Jasmine Group, Kima Ventures, Tevel and Wekix
Clients: Eedoo – A Lenovo subsidiary

By Assaf Gilad, Calcalist

ISO Vote on 3D Safety Guidelines Closes Nov. 7

At the 3D @ Home User Experience Technical Conference (UETC) in September, we had a chance to hear more about standards development activities based on initiatives from Korea and Japan. In subsequent email dialogs with the Japan group, we have now learned that ISO (International Organization for Standardization) is closing a ballot on drafting 3D safety guidelines on November 7. Information on these guidelines can be downloaded here.

This is just the first phase of the process, however. Following the vote, a period of discussion on the voting results and comments will follow, leading to the development of a working draft document by April 2012. This will be circulated again, followed by a series of votes.

Japan issued its first draft 3D safety guidelines document back in 2002 (published by JEITA) and began working with ISO in 2004 via an international workshop. During the discussions, they found out that guidelines are necessary and important for 3D viewing comfort and safety.

Current activity is underway in a new working group called WG 12 on Image Safety, which is under ISO/TC 159 (Ergonomics) / SC 4 (Ergonomics of human-system interaction). The purpose of these discussions is, "To provide requirements and recommendation from a viewpoint of ergonomics for reducing the potential for visual discomfort, asthenopia and visual fatigue when viewing stereoscopic images."

The group’s efforts regarding stereoscopic images are focused on the ways to mitigate the effects of Visually Induced Motion Sickness (VIMS) and Visual Fatigue caused by Stereoscopic Images (VFSI). The latest version of the full safety guidelines document, developed by the 3D Consortium (3DC), JEITA and AIST, was released last year and covers hardware, content and viewer responses. This is a Japanese-only document now, but English and Chinese versions should be available shortly.

Hiroyasu Ujike, a researcher at National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), is leading the efforts with the ISO. In an email exchange with him, he noted that, "Based on discussions in the WG, I would like to find out and build a common framework for 3D Image Safety, and sharing it as "international guidelines."

Potential areas of discussion include:

• Interocular difference of images, as optical stimuli, in terms of geometrical distortions, luminance, etc.
  
• Binocular parallax and disparity
  
• Enhancement of 2D problems by the stereoscopic presentation
  
• Temporal changes in the above items
  
• Viewing environment and viewing conditions

By Chris Chinnock, Display Daily

200-inch Full HD Glasses-Free 3D Display is World's Largest

Click to watch the video
Source: DigInfo TV