News Stories

Sony 3D Display could revolutionize 2D gaming (two independent 2D game views at once)

6.7.2011

[by Geoff Duncan, Digital Trends]

Sony’s 24-inch 3D display for the PlayStation 3 not only fits in small rooms – it can show unique screens to two players at the same time.

Sony has long been saying it’s betting the future of gaming and home entertainment is in 3D, and at this year’s E3 the company is making good on its word with the announcement of a new 24-inch 3D Display. Due to land in virtually worldwide in time for the end-of-year holiday buying season, the 24-inch Display will not only handle traditional 3D movies and gaming content from Sony’s PlayStation 3, it will also be able to show unique, full-screen images to two players at the same time, expanding competitive and cooperative game play possibilities for PlayStation titles.

 

The display itself is a unique 24 inches in size, which Sony touts as being perfect for bedrooms, dorms, and other small spaces where typical 3DTV are way too large. The display offers full HD resolution—1,920 by 1,080 pixels—along with a 176° viewing angle, 4ms response time, and a 5,000:1 contrast ratio. Users will connect the display to their PS3s via HDMI (there’s a second HDMI input for connecting another device), and the display has built-in stereo speakers plus a subwoofer that might be enough to bring games to life in small spaces. There’s a component input if folks want to hook up old-school video sources, along with a headphone jack and a 3.5mm stereo minijack for hooking up media players or other audio sources. The display will support several 3D formats, including “top and bottom,” “side by side,” and “frame packing” so users will be able to enjoy a wide variety of 3D content.

However, the 3D Display’s flagship feature is undoubtedly its ability to push unique full-screen images to two gamers at the same time, enabled in part by the display’s quad-speed frame sequential display technology. The trick is enabled by the unique proprietary 3D glasses Sony has designed for the display, along with software especially designed to support the feature. Essentially, the technology transforms a 3D TV’s ability to send separate images to a viewer’s left and right eye to instead send separate images to different players: the images are 2D, but they’re full-screen, full-speed, and full-resolution, meaning two gamers can (in co-op or competitive mode) be interacting with two entirely different scenes while playing the same game.

The Sony 3D Display will go on sale “this fall” for a suggested retail price of $499.99. That price includes a pair of the proprietary 3D glasses and a copy ofResistance 3 with full support for the display’s dual player capabilities. Additional pairs of the 3D glasses will be available for $69.99; the glasses sport a rechargeable lithium ion battery; Sony says a three-minute charge will give about three hours of use, while a 45-minute charge will let the glasses run for about 30 hours.

The question for Sony now is how many developers it can get to support the 3D Display’s technology—if the display winds up being useful in only a small handful of games, it essentially just becomes a small form-factor 3DTV. But if game developers embrace the technology, it could become the PlayStation 3′s next must-have accessory, right alongside the PlayStation Move. And at $499.99, Sony might just have found a way to bring 3D to the masses whether developers embrace the display’s special features or not.

See the original post here: http://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/sony-3d-display-could-revolutionize-2d-gaming/

The PlayStation Gets Its Own 3D HDTV

6.7.2011

[By Will Greenwald, PC Mag]

Buried between the 3D PlayStation game trailers and the PlayStation Vita reveal, Sony on Monday announced a very interesting pair of products for PlayStation fans.

The company will release a PlayStation-branded 3D HDTV and PlayStation-branded active shutter glasses, adding to the line of PlayStation-branded homeentertainment products that began with the PlayStation soundbar last year.

The PlayStation 3D Monitor is a 24-inch 3D HDTV targeted toward gamers and sized for ideal use in dorm rooms and small apartments. The screen can display 3D video, including 3D games on the PlayStation 3, plus two different 2D video streams in a new display mode that shows two completely different pictures depending on which pair of active shutter glasses you’re wearing. It lets two players in the same room play using the entire screen, instead of a split-screen view. Assuming it works, it’s a brilliant idea that should have been implemented long ago.

 

The 3D Monitor won’t come with a PlayStation 3, but for $499 the HDTV ships with a copy of “Resistance 3” for the PS3, an HDMI cable, and a pair of active shutter glasses. The glasses themselves are new, PlayStation-branded models that will be available for $69 a pair. The screen isn’t huge, but the price and the features are certainly appealing. Stay tuned to PCMag for our PlayStation 3D Monitor review.

Also on Monday, Sony announced the PlayStation Vita, which will have an OLED touch screen, dual analog sticks, back-mounted touch panels, and front- and back-facing cameras. The Wi-Fi-only version of the PlayStation Vita will retail for $249.99, and the Wi-Fi/3G version will retail for $299.99.

See the original post here: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2386502,00.asp

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Specification for Naming VFX Image Sequences Released

ETC’s VFX Working Group has published a specification for best practices naming image sequences such as plates and comps. File naming is an essential tool for organizing the multitude of frames that are inputs and outputs from the VFX process. Prior to the publication of this specification, each organization had its own naming scheme, requiring custom processes for each partner, which often resulted in confusion and miscommunication.

The new ETC@USC specification focuses primarily on sequences of individual images. The initial use case was VFX plates, typically delivered as OpenEXR or DPX files. However, the team soon realized that the same naming conventions can apply to virtually any image sequence. Consequently, the specification was written to handle a wide array of assets and use cases.

To ensure all requirements are represented, the working group included over 2 dozen participants representing studios, VFX houses, tool creators, creatives and others.  The ETC@USC also worked closely with MovieLabs to ensure that the specification could be integrated as part of their 2030 Vision.

A key design criteria for this specification is compatibility with existing practices.  Chair of the VFX working group, Horst Sarubin of Universal Pictures, said: “Our studio is committed to being at the forefront of designing best industry practices to modernize and simplify workflows, and we believe this white paper succeeded in building a new foundation for tools to transfer files in the most efficient manner.”

This specification is compatible with other initiatives such as the Visual Effects Society (VES) Transfer Specifications. “We wanted to make it as seamless as possible for everyone to adopt this specification,” said working group co-chair and ETC@USC’s Erik Weaver. “To ensure all perspectives were represented we created a team of industry experts familiar with the handling of these materials and collaborated with a number of industry groups.”

“Collaboration between MovieLabs and important industry groups like the ETC is critical to implementing the 2030 Vision,” said Craig Seidel, SVP of MovieLabs. “This specification is a key step in defining the foundations for better software-defined workflows. We look forward to continued partnership with the ETC on implementing other critical elements of the 2030 Vision.”

The specification is available online for anyone to use.

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