News Stories

3D Monitors Put Video in Perspective

10.5.2011

[TV Technology]

…IN THE STUDIO

Several manufacturers build professional 3D monitors for production and studio monitoring applications, including Panasonic. Jeff Blauvelt of HD Cinema in Los Angeles works on productions using Panasonic’s 3DL2550 25-inch monitors and has come to value the display’s features that speed the shooting process.  …

One of the other interesting features of the Panasonic 3DL2550 is that the monitor can display a color space that is 102 percent of the NTSC standard, exceeding the EBU/SMPTE range displayed by most LCD monitors. Even CRT monitors don’t have the color accuracy to provide this level of chroma reproduction.

The JVC GD-463D10 is a 46-inch monitor that best serves as the program display in a control room or for audience monitoring. The GD-463D10 uses Xpol circular polarization that lets the monitor display the left- and right-eye images simultaneously, which reduces flicker. This works particularly well for images with fast motion.

The GD-463D10 has two 3D video formats: line-by-line format and side-by-side. Line-by-line format scans left and right images in the even and odd lines of an interlaced video signal. In side-by-side format, left and right images each use 1/2 of the display, shown on the left and right sides of the screen.  …

HOLY GRAIL

The Holy Grail of 3D monitors is a viewing experience that doesn’t involve glasses of any kind. That’s available today on a couple of cell phones and some other consumer displays, and now Marshall Electronics has introduced the Orchid OR-70-3D, a seven-inch 3D monitor that can be viewed without glasses.

Targeted at 3D camera operators, cinematographers and content producers, the Orchid OR-70-3D is claimed to be the world’s first autostereoscopic 3D (glasses-free) seven-inch portable production monitor.  …

See the full story here: http://www.tvtechnology.com/article/124974

Getting machines to watch 3D for you

9.30.2011

[DVB Europe]

How can 3D television signals be analysed automatically to provide quality of broadcast service? Mike Knee, consultant engineer, research & development at Snell (pictured) is working on the answer, and provides a short overview of his work here.  …

Manual monitoring of 3D is more difficult than 2D because operators need to wear glasses or accept limitations of autostereoscopic displays. So there is a burgeoning interest in automatic monitoring of 3DTV.  In this article we look at how various aspects of 3D television signals can be analysed. …

Format Detection  …

Depth or Disparity Analysis  …

Left-Right Swap Detection  …

2D to 3D Conversion Detection  …

Read the full story here: http://www.tvbeurope.com/newsletter-3dmasters-content/full/getting-machines-to-watch-3d-for-you

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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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