The Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) said Thursday it has completed work on the 3DTM specification. The new spec will make way for the home-entertainment industry to deliver a 3-D movie-watching experience to consumers from the comfort of their living rooms.
The Blu-ray 3-D spec promises unmatched picture quality as well as compatibility across the full range of Blu-ray 3-D products. Every Blu-ray 3-D player and movie will be able to deliver full HD 1080p resolution. The spec is also display-agnostic, regardless of whether the display is LCD, Plasma or other technology.
“Throughout this year, moviegoers have shown an overwhelming preference for 3-D when presented with the option to see a theatrical release in either 3-D or 2-D,” said Victor Matsuda, chairman of the BDA Global Promotions Committee. “We believe this demand for 3-D content will carry over into the home now that we have, in Blu-ray Disc, a medium that can deliver a quality full HD 3-D experience to the living room.”
A Hard Sell?
The Blu-ray 3-D specification calls for encoding 3-D video using the Multiview Video Coding (MVC) codec, an extension to the ITU-T H.264 Advanced Video Coding (AVC) codec currently supported by all Blu-ray Disc players. Blu-ray promises full 1080p resolution backward compatibility with current 2-D Blu-ray Disc players. But analysts said many consumers may have to replace both their Blu-ray players and their television sets to get the full 3-D experience.
“You are going to need a 120-hertz TV or better to get the 3-D, and the vast majority of the TVs sold over the past few years are not to that standard,” said Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group. “That means people who have bought TVs — and TVs typically have an eight- or nine-year service life — are going to be asked to buy another one. And…