Entertainment Technology Center @ USC

[By Thomas Ricker, Engadget]

Say what you will about Samsung’s questionable chaebol business practices and KIRFy ways, at least the company’s got the stones to openly target a specific demographic with its marketing pitches. This time Sammy’s new AF315 All-in-One PC is targeting stylish and sophisticated women who’ve moved on from their pink peddle pusher ways. The most notable features are that big 23-inch LCD coupled with Samsung’s switchable active shutter 2D / 3D technology and narrow 11-mm bezel. Otherwise, we’re looking at a Core i5 CPU, 1TB 7200RPM hard disk, USB 3.0, TV receiver, Blu-ray player, remote control, 3D glasses, and a wireless keyboard and mouse combo in the box when this thing ships in South Korea starting tomorrow for 2.19 million won or just a tad less than $2,000.

See the original post here: http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/25/samsungs-af315-all-in-one-3d-pc-targets-the-sophitsticated-woma/

[By Dan Mitchell, Fortune]

Nvidia aims for 40 million 3D PCs by 2015, but will non-gamers don glasses to watch movie trailers and viral videos?

There have been attempts to force 3D onto the Web since the Web was born. Remember Virtual Reality Modeling Language? VRML — a standard for creating 3D graphics, mainly with gaming and “Web experiences” in mind — was the laughingstock of certain parts of the then-smallish Web community in the mid-90s, mainly because hardware hadn’t caught up.

Well, stop laughing. Or anyway, keep it to a low chortle, because it seems like 3D on the Web is actually starting to become a thing. It might be a silly thing, but it’s still a thing. In the latest move, graphics chipmaker Nvidia announced that Google’s YouTube (GOOG) and Firefox would support its 3D Vision platform (now used mainly by gamers)  for videos.

Caveats abound. It works only on Firefox 4. Also, 3D Vision, a software/hardware package that costs about $150, must be installed on a compatible PC. And of course, users must wear 3D glasses, which come with the kit.

So, it’s only for people who really, really want it. And aren’t on a Mac. That doesn’t mean it won’t succeed — indeed, it most likely means that Nvidia (NVDA) will be able to keep its price points high for some time to come.

The company forecasts that there will be 40 million PCs with 3D Vision installed by 2015.

Movie studios in recent years have tried to push 3D films with some success. But that increasingly appears to be a fading fad. Nvidia though, says that what’s driving demand online is homemade 3D video and pictures. Sales of 3D cameras and camcorders are up.

There are only a few thousand 3D videos now on YouTube. But with amateur auteurs piling on to the technology, that number is “set to explode,” declares The Inquirer’s Lawrence Latif.

See the original post here: http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/?p=60704&preview=true&section=magazines_fortune

[from the product website]

Are you looking for a high-quality, flicker free solution to watch your favorite 3D movies? Try Stereoscopic Player, a versatile 3D movie player for your PC!

A first glance…

Stereoscopic Player is a versatile 3D movie player. It allows you to play stereo scopic videos and DVDs (external decoder required) and also allows you to watch live video from a capture device. Since it is based on Direct Show, it can handle almost any media format, for example AVI, MPEG, WMV, ASF and MOV. Videos can be coded in several different stereo scopic formats. Please see the feature list for supported input and output formats.

… and a few more details

Why is it necessary to use a special software for 3D movie playback? The reason is that there are a lots of different ways to watch stereoscopic content as well as different ways to store the content. In the past, it was necessary to encode a stereoscopic movie for each viewing method, for example you had to create an anaglyph file, a interlaced file for use with shutter glasses and a side-by-side for for free-viewing without glasses. Quality was often low. For example, most video codecs don’t handle interlaced content well or subsample color information (reducing color resolution to quarter of original resolution), which reduces anaglyph quality significantly.

The solution to above problem is creating just one file and convert it in real-time to the desired output format. The Stereoscopic Player is such a real-time conversion application. Using the player is easy: Load your stereoscopic movie, tell the player how it is encoded and finally select the desired output format (called viewing method). For your convenience, the Stereoscopic Player remembers input settings for each stereoscopic movie in its integrated video library so that you don’t have to re-do all the configuration steps again and again. For the most popular 3D-DVDs and 3D video files, Stereoscopic Player can even retrieve the proper settings from a web server. If you are creating content yourself, you can ship your video files together with a Stereoscopic Metafile (*.svi), which also eliminates the need to specify the input format.

For professional use, command line parameters, OLE automation and the Sony 9-pin protocol are available to automate the Stereoscopic Player. Furthermore, it can control external effects via a serial port or DMX512.

What about 2D-3D conversion?

Please note that Stereoscopic Player can not convert 2D content to 3D!  There is no real-time conversion algorithm available which works reasonably well. Computer are not smart enough to understand what’s in the foreground and what’s in the background yet. Since Stereoscopic Player is a high quality product, no inferior conversion algorithms were incorporated into the player. Stereoscopic Player requires real stereoscopic movies, containing both left and right view.

See the original post here: http://www.3dtv.at/Products/Player/Index_en.aspx

[by stereoscopynews.com]

You have a 3D video from a PC file, a Blu-ray disk or a game and want to capture it? The answer is Fraps !

Fraps is a free tool you just need to download and use.Fraps supports now Windows 7 SP1 and is able to capture 3D Vision displays under DirectX10 and DirectX11, including at 1920×1080 and 1920×1200 sizes. Fast anf big hard disks required.

Fraps is ready to be downladed here.

See the original post here: http://stereoscopynews.com/hotnews/3d-technology/software-a-hardware-tools/1446-3d-real-time-on-screen-video-capture.html

Can display glasses-free 3D image or video in one window, with 2D content running in another!

[by Mark Kurlyandchik, www.dailytech.com]

Like it or not, the 3D fad isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

Yesterday, we gave you a roundup of LG G-Slate reviews. The device captures 3D video, but requires 3D glasses for playback. The upcoming HTC EVO 3D smartphone, though, offers a glasses-free 3D experience, much like the just-announced Toshiba dynabook Qosmio T851/D8CR notebook.

Toshiba unveiled “the world’s first glasses-free 3D notebook PC able to display 3D and 2D content at the same time on one screen” today in a press release. Users will be able to watch glasses-free 3D content in one window, while browsing the web, sending email, or performing other 2D duties in another window.

In addition to the glasses-free experience, which Toshiba has accomplished using “face-tracking” and “active lens” functions that use the device’s webcam to track a user’s eyes, the notebook also has a 2D to 3D function. “With SpursEngine™, a dedicated image processor with advanced performance derived from the multi-core technology of the Cell Broadband Engine™, dynabook Qosmio T851/D8CR boasts 2D to 3D real-time conversion technology that allows users to enjoy high-quality 3D images generated from 2D terrestrial, BS and 110 CS digital broadcasts,” the release says.

The Toshiba notebook launches in Japan in late July. No pricing or State-side availability has been announced.

See the original post here: http://www.dailytech.com/Toshiba+to+Release+Glasses+Free+3D+Notebook/article21421c.htm

[Press Release]

DDD Group plc (AIM: DDD), the 3D consumer technology licensing group, has signed a license agreement with Samsung Electronics Company Ltd. (“Samsung”) to bundle DDD’s TriDef® 3D PC software products with Samsung’s new line of 3D PC Monitors.

The two-year license agreement allows Samsung to ship DDD’s TriDef 3D Experience software with Samsung’s 3D Monitor products that were showcased at the Consumer Electronics Show (“CES”) in Las Vegas in January 2011.

Announced at CES, Samsung’s 3D LED Series 7 and Series 9 monitors deliver a wide variety of content in 3D, from 3D gaming to 3D movies, 3D internet content, 3D photos, and 3D broadcast channels. 2D content can be watched on all of the 3D monitors, and many of them have real-time 2D to 3D conversion allowing 2D content to be watched in 3D. Samsung’s 3D monitors offer superior versatility delivering 3D viewing for broadcast, movies and gaming.

Samsung 3D monitors deliver stunning picture quality and color vibrancy. All Samsung 3D monitors have a combination of LED-backlight, 100% sRGB coverage and Samsung’s proprietary Ultra Clear Panel, which combines the vibrancy of a glossy display while maintaining the ease of viewing afforded by an anti-glare matte finish – blacks are deeper and contrast is enhanced.

Samsung’s SA/TA750 and SA/TA950 3D monitors offer a complete 3D solution in the box, including electronic 3D glasses, built-in sync emitter, and TriDef 3D software.

Available in over 37 languages, DDD’s TriDef 3D software allows over four hundred and fifty of the very latest PC games to be played in stereoscopic 3D ‘off the shelf’, even though the game has not been specifically developed for 3D.

DDD’s TriDef Ignition™ 2D to 3D game conversion engine is compatible with DirectX 9, 10 and 11 games. Its (Paris: FR0010370163 - news) unique high-performance stereoscopic 3D render mode enables 3D gaming on Samsung’s 3D PC model line up with no significant compromise in performance and is compatible with PC graphics processors from both AMD (NYSE: AMD - news) as well as Intel (NasdaqGS: INTC - news) ‘s 2^nd Gen Core processors.

In addition to a wide variety of PC games, DDD’s TriDef Media Player automatically converts PC media and photo files from 2D to 3D along with DVD movies and is compatible with the growing library of original 3D content available from DDD’s Yabazam! 3D content portal.

Chris Yewdall, Chief Executive of DDD said:

“We are pleased to have been selected by Samsung to provide the content solution for their new 3D PC products and this agreement broadens our existing relationship with Samsung. TriDef 3D software is fast becoming an industry standard within the emerging 3D PC market.”

See the original press release here: http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/DDD-Group-PLC-License-afxcnf-3494080277.html?x=0&.v=1

LG had already promised that they were coming, but the company waited until today–the first morning of Mobile World Congress here–to officially unveil the Optimus 3D and Optimus Pad. Both Android devices run on Gingerbread and offer 3D video recording.

The Optimus 3D smartphone builds on the Optimus 2x and Optimus Black that LG announced last month at CES. You’ll find a similar design candy bar design in basic black. The 4.3-inch display takes up the most real estate, but four touch navigation elements sit just below.

LG was quick to point out the Optimus 3D’s “tri-dual’ configuration, which includes a 1GHz dual-core processor, dual-channel and dual-memory architecture. And just as important, the company said the handset can record, view and share 3D content. We’re still not sure what to think of this concept, but we’ll get a better demonstration of the technology later today.

To record 3D, the Optimus two 5.0-megapixel cameras on its back side; you won’t need glasses to watch recorded video, and a 3D “Hot Key” will deliver five 3D-dedicated user interfaces. Video resolution is up to 1080p for 2D clips and up to 720p for 3D.

Other features include Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, a personal organizer, USB syncing and mass storage, GPS, a music player, 8GB of internal memory, a 1,500 mAh battery, and support DLNA/HDMI connections. The LG Optimus 3D will start a global roll out in Europe in the second quarter of this year.

The Optimus Pad marks LG’s entry into the tablet space. It also features 3D recording and video capability (and the two 5-megapixel cameras), but LG appeared to more concerned with promoting the convenience of the tablet’s 8.9-inch display. Calling it the “optimal size” for a tablet, a company exec drove the point home by ripping on competing devices (without mentioning them by name) that are smaller (like the Galaxy Tab) and larger (the iPad, the Motorola Xoom, and the new Galaxy Tab 10.1).

While the smaller tablets are just “blown up smartphones,” the exec said, the larger tablets are too bulky to be portable. He even showed photos of frustrated users either madly pecking at a tiny screen or being overwhelmed by a large device. Yes, they oversimplified things a but, but that’s marketing for you.

The display has a 1280×768 WXGA resolution in widescreen while a 1GHz dual core Nvidia’s Tegra 2 processor the Optimus Pad from the inside. You also get 1080p HD video decoding and HDMI support will let you share your 3D video with TVs. Unlike the Optimus 3D, though, you do need glasses to watch 3D video on the tablet. And as part of the Optimus Pad announcement, LG has a established a partnership with YouTube, which will let Optimus Pad owners quickly upload 3D videos for sharing.

The Optimus Pad will begin shipping this spring to select markets. In the United States, it will come to T-Mobile as the LG Slate.

Original post here: http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13970_7-20031740-78.html?tag=topStories2

The company is even throwing in a free copy of “Disney’s Christmas Carol” in 3D…

Anyone who’s eyeing a 3D PC but doesn’t want to wear those glasses may be in luck.

Fujitsu announced yesterday that it will launch an all-in-one desktop PC sporting a 3D display that won’t require the familiar but uncomfortable 3D glasses.

Due to launch in Japan on February 25, the Fujitsu Esprimo FH99/CM will offer an 23-inch 1,920×1,080 LCD display and be powered by an Intel i7 processor.

The PC will include 4GB of RAM, up to 2TB of hard-disk space, integrated graphics, and a Blu-ray drive, according to PClaunches.com and other sources. A TV tuner will let users watch and record television shows as well.

Beyond those features, the Esprimo FH99 will offer Ethernet and 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi connectivity, two USB 3.0 ports, an SD card slot, an HDMI port, and an integrated Webcam. The company is even throwing in a free copy of “Disney’s Christmas Carol” in 3D, according to a Google Translate version of its Japanese press release.

No word on when the PC might make its way beyond Japan, but Fujitsu said it’s looking to launch it overseas at a later date, according to AFP News.

Original story posted here: http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-20028419-1.html?tag=mncol