BBC on 3d TV

Sorry for the lazy post - but I have been up to my eyes in prepping for
the Unconference for EverythingFuture.org.
I will get some more real life stuff down soon...In the meantime.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/10446419.stm
Use this link (above)for the full article.
FROM BBC.CO.UK
Quality warnings issued over 3DTV
Technology reporter, BBC News
Hollywood epic Clash of the Titans was painstakingly converted into 3D frame-by-frame but the image quality received mixed reviews. After years of trial and error, 3D finally hit the mainstream; at least as far as Hollywood was concerned.
Big box office hits like Toy Story 3, Avatar and Clash of the Titans suggest that cinema goers have an appetite for 3D and they're willing to pay a premium for it.
Now the TV industry is trying to catch up.
3DTV sets went on sale in UK department stores earlier this year, after sports network ESPN committed to broadcasting at least 25 of the World Cup games in 3D.
Despite poor first month sales figures - just 25,000 3DTV sets sold across Europe according to analysts GfK - industry pundits say 3D television is here to stay.
"3DTV is not going to have the same impact as the introduction of colour TV," declared Simon Murray, principal media analyst at Informa Telecoms & Media in a recent report.
"However, it is not a fad and it will prosper as a niche product," he added.
The average TV production has neither the time or the budget of a blockbuster movie. Filming in 3D requires both in large amounts, so the alternative is to film in traditional 2D and then convert it afterwards.
There are various ways of doing this.
All Samsung 3DTV's now come with TriDef as standard. If money is no object, then a proprietry post-production software system - developed by large 3D production houses - is the way many film studios are heading.
One firm, Prime Focus, converted Clash of the Titans into 3D for Warner Brothers in less than eight weeks. It was an expensive, labour intensive process, involving almost 1500 staff said the firm, and the results received mixed reviews.
Budget 3D
But there is one option that has no financial cost.
TV manufacturer Samsung recently announced that it will be including automatic conversion software - TriDef, developed by DDD - in all of its new 3DTV sets, enabling viewers to instantly "upscale" standard live television into a 3D experience at the push of a button.
TriDef is already embedded in Samsung mobile handsets and Acer laptops.
This type of software has alarmed the film industry, with claims that the automated result is inferior to filming with specialist 3D cameras or using an expensive post-production process.
At a conference in May, Hollwood film director James Cameron - the man behind the animated 3D epic Avatar - warned the result of cheap conversion were "eye strain and headaches".
Panasonic refused to include the software in its 3D sets over quality concerns.
"'We don't think it's right to confuse consumers this early on with second-rate conversion technology,' Fabrice Estornel, product manager at Panasonic TV, told website Home Cinema Choice (HCC).
Chris Yewdall, chief executive of DDD, said the company is not trying to compete with big budget solutions.
"3D is just like any other market - you have good, better and best," he told BBC News.
"We offer a very specific feature aimed at the consumer to get them comfortable with the fact that it is possible to watch 3D at home. There's a cost and quality level associated with that."
Comparing the product with surround sound, Mr Yewdall added that the DDD solution offers an unlimited amount of content as any live TV programme can be split into 3D without adding time and expense to the production cycle.
"When you look at Clash of the Titans , it had a very aggressive schedule and cost of several million dollars. The average consumer doesn't have that. You just want it to work at the press of a button," added Mr Yewdall.

BBC 3d plans for 2012 Olympics

Found this article.
Quite interesting.
The BBC is lining up boxing and gynmastics as its lead sports for a 2012 Olympics showcasing 3D and Super HD TV.
But the corporation is unlikely to launch a dedicated 3D channel for the Olympics – using live venues and ‘red button’ event streams to air the coverage.
Sports with a sense of depth and confined space are expected to make the most impact in 3D, but major field games will also be captured to ensure the BBC has an archive packed with 3D and Super HD.
“The compact space of a boxing ring gives a real wow factor,” Roger Mosey, the BBC’s director of London 2012, told trade paper Broadcast.
“And with gymnastics, if you think about someone doing a vault, they start a long way away and move towards you – there is a real sense of depth.
“Team games and big pictures don’t really work – corner shots in football are good but often the players look like little models running across the field.”
International broadcasters are set to give their requirements for 3D, Super HD and other feeds to the Olympic Games’ official broadcaster, OBSL, this summer.

http://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/news/broadcasters/bbcs-3d-olympics-plan-shapes-up/5013262.article

List of Stereo 3d Blogs.

Here is a list of blogs. Different flavours, different styles. Enjoy!
I have treid to avoid any rating system as you can decide which one works for you! (hopefully you'll still pop back here from time to time...)

http://www.convergence3d.net
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/3dtv/
http://www.3dcinecast.com
http://lennylipton.wordpress.com/
http://www.today3d.com/
http://www.stereoscopynews.com/
http://www.facebook.com/v3imaging
http://www.3DGuy.tv
http://www.3dcinecast.com
www.3dvision-blog.com
3d Magazine
http://thirdmagazine.com/
International Stereoscopic Union
http://www.stereoscopy.com/isu/index.html
You can also join the Stereoscopic Displays and Applications Conference Linkedin discussion group - http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=1945944
http://www.stereoscopic.org
Found Peter Wimmer (Stereoscopic player) on here:
http://www.stereo3d.com/3dhome.htm
If you want a 3D blog in Spanish
www.cine3D.com
www.3DMagazine.com
http://www.enhanced-dimensions.com/wordpress/
http://www.realvision.ae/blog - stereoscopy and a bit on AR.
http://www.s3ddatabase.com/p/Resources.html
For a list of some of the more popular blogs and some other resource sites.
http://schubincafe.com/
David Newman, the CTO and co-founder of CineForm
http://cineform.blogspot.com/
new one just added:
http://www.stereoscopicfilmmaker.com

3d Broadcast Industry Insight Workshop - Sponsored by North West Vision and Media.

3d Industry Insight Workshop - 18th June 2010. Venue: Procam TV North.
The idea of the event started out as a small scale 3d demo but with the help of some friends and an obvious need for a 'firestarter' type seminar it grew into 3 two hour sessions. The first hour a more formal structured overview of shooting and post producing 3d for broadcast. We had a Mistika 3d post platform courtesy of Geoff Mills and Nico at Mistika and of course Sumners Post who are trialing the Mistika.
I will post a separate blog purely on POST solutions - but for now the actual demo that Nico did was of a young woman holding dumbbells 'out of the screen' in Positive parallax. Then he adjusted the overal depth, the convergence and the interocular settings. (I know it solunds inpossible - but the Mistika calculates a depth map based on the pixel disparites and allows adjustment at selected az depth points WITHOUT messing with the rest of the z depth...! So email em and I'll tell you all about it! reg@shoot3d.tv
Okay - we also had a Swiss Rig on demo http://www.swissrig.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3&Itemid=3. Robert Hedinger at Iamartis arranged for the 3d Village in Belgium http://www.3dvillage.be/ to ship one over for our session. It duly arrived with Joris and Erwin on board from 3d Village in Belgium. Great guys who bravely set about gearing it up with our EX3 EX1R combination. Sadly we needed a lockit box and they were all out -so we were able to demonstrate the principle without any actual 3d alignment possible. We also had a Titan Cinema projector form Digital Projection Ltd. it was one of the stars of the sessions - active flicker technology at 144hz. Beautiful, bright and clear images from 3d Blue Ray DVD player. Finally on the sessions we were showing, fresh into the UK a pair of matched stereo lenses from Fujinon http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvlvoAHlrm8