BDA Creates Task Force to Integrate 3-D into Blu-ray
Source: blu-ray.com

The Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) has formed a 3-D task force made up of members from the motion picture, consumer electronics and IT sectors, to ease “the integration of 3-D technology into the Blu-ray Disc format,” according to a statement from the group. A meeting timetable for the task force has not been specified.

The large capacity of Blu-ray makes it an ideal medium to store advanced 3-D content. However, there are currently no standards for displaying 3-D at home with theater-like quality, and thus current home video presentations use the inferior anaglyph system (based on two-color glasses).

More and more studios see 3-D as a boon for Blu-ray. For example, Disney's 'Jonas Brothers: The 3-D Concert Experience' will only be available in 3-D on Blu-ray, whereas the DVD will only feature the 2-D version.

3-D is Seeing a Blu Future
Source: blu-ray.com

The next technology step for Hollywood is the move towards stereoscopic 3-D movies. 3-D movies are definitely not a new idea; just an idea that was always poorly executed.

The older anaglyph method relies on use of red/blue glasses, and while inexpensive to implement, delivered a poor experience to the viewer. Later, steroscopic movies began using two simultaneous images of different perspective to give the allusion of 3-D.

The results were far superior, but not many theaters were set up for such a presentation. Over the past few years, Hollywood has stepped up to the plate and announced over 80 stereoscopic 3D movies, including James Cameron's 2009 film 'Avatar'.

In response, movie theaters have been outfitting their facilities to be prepared for the upcoming onslaught of 3-D films. The next logical step, of course, is to bring these 3-D films into your home.

Panasonic 3D FHD Blu-ray Labs unwraps
By Daniel Lim | Source: slashgear.com

The increasing popular 3D HD Live sports are all over the news these days, we’ve seen the technology gaining positive reviews since its first public debut on BCS College championship game, and now to be featured in the upcoming All star valentine weekend [ check out our family package tickets giveaway, estimated value at $80 !!].

The contents and availability, however, are limited to selected theaters, and frankly not easy to find if you live outside of much popular cities; but similar technology will soon coming to your living home with Panasonic unveiled its 3D Full HD Blu-ray technology labs.

Looking back, Panasonic has been busy standardizing the technology and we know it’s coming at consumer level with a Blu-ray hardware and 3D content in a Plasma system. Latest announcement will include an additional 3D-ready digital cinema projector.

3D standardization necessary for growth
Blu-ray discs most likely distribution form,
U.K. research firm says
By Danny King | Excerpt: videobusiness.com

January 2009 - Hollywood studios will need to come to a consensus with component makers on picking a limited number of 3D technology standards within the next couple years in order to take advantage of the growth of 3D-capable TVs and provide a shot in the arm to a DVD industry that has had falling sales over the last couple of years, according to Futuresource.

With more moviegoers willing to pay higher ticket prices to experience 3D through films such as last year's Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour, the DVD industry has about a 10-year window to benefit from the

novelty of 3D by charging higher prices for 3D discs, which require between 35% more and double the data of a typical Blu-ray title, according to Futuresource. The U.K.-based research firm, which estimates that no-3D-glasses technology will overtake 3D glasses as the primary viewing method within about a decade, will release a study on the growth of 3D technology and consumption in March.

As many as 3 million U.S. consumers own 3D-capable TVs, though most people don't know how to use the feature, which allows for separate image projection for the left and right eyes to simulate a three-dimensional picture, said Bill Foster, Futuresource's senior technology consultant.

How Much 'Avatar' Behind-The-Scenes Footage Will Be On The DVD?
Source: mtv.com

Director James Cameron says there is more footage than anyone will ever want to see.

Cameron pegs 'Avatar' to 3D Blu-ray in November
By David Katzmaier | Source: news.cnet.com

The 3D TV hubub at CES roughly coincided with "Avatar," the highest grossing theatrical release of all time, hitting theaters in 3D. It seems natural to assume that the inevitable home video release of the 3D HD version of the "Avatar" Blu-ray would coincide with the introduction of new 3D HDTVs, which are slated to appear as early as May.

But according to director James Cameron, that Blu-ray won't appear until November. "It's all right on schedule," said Cameron during a Wall Street Journal interview. "We'll do the Blu-ray and the standard-def DVD April 22nd, that's our plan as of right now, and that'll be pretty much bare bones.

And then we'll do a value-added DVD and a 3D Blu-ray in I think November sometime." Apparently Cameron spoke out of turn. A subsequent update from Fox Home Entertainment denied his release date statement, saying "3D is in the conceptual stage and 'Avatar' will not be out on 3D Blu-ray in November."

The studio would not confirm any home video release dates to the Journal, which is owned by News Corp, of which 20th Century Fox, purveyors of "Avatar," is also a division. Since the Fox denial puts the Avatar 3D Blu-ray release date squarely back into the universe of conjecture, we'll chime in with our own prediction: Cameron is right.

Fox will capitalize on the box office momentum to release a "bare-bones" DVD and Blu-ray as quickly as possible, and April 22nd is Earth Day, which dovetails with the film's pro-environment bent. We're guessing both will include a 3D version in the old colored-glasses ("anaglyph") style, like many current Blu-ray and DVD discs, and be mostly bereft of commentaries, special features and collectible figurines.

November will see the full-fledged "Special Collectors Edition in True HD Blu-ray 3D 1080p x2" (or whatever they want to call it), just in time for the holidays, complete with blue body paint (thanks EngadgetHD), Neytiri mask with exclusive blue striped 3D shutter glasses, and a fiber-optic-veined Unobtanium centerpiece that looks like a miniature version of the Ayvitrayä Ramunong. It will also contain 2D and 3D versions of the film on Blu-ray, the latter in the new, full-HD version that utilizes the latest 3D technology, along with plenty of 3D special features. Price TBD.

Cameron Talks Avatar Blu-ray
By Bill Desowitz | Source: awn.com

James Cameron told AWN that AVATAR will be released on Blu-ray and DVD toward the end of April or May from Fox Home Ent. This will be followed by "value-added" Blu-ray and DVD box sets for Christmas with a lot of "feature shock." There might even be a bare bones 3-D Blu-ray also released for Christmas. However, Cameron clarified that there will not be an extended cut of AVATAR in the box set per se, but rather lots of additional scenes as bonus features. "To me, AVATAR is the cut that I wanted to put out," Cameron explains.

"Again, no pressure from the studio… What we may do is one of these branching path things where you can sort of program your own version of the movie, so you can watch a longer or shorter version of it, as long as both are available in the same package at the same time. "And if the seamless branching works out, and you can pre-select the 15-minute or the 10-minute longer version of the film, well, that'll be an interesting experience because every once in a while something will pop up that you never saw before.

And I think that could be kind of cool: you're rolling along and all of a sudden, 'Wow, what is that?' Here's what bothers me: I don't like this kind of revision, this kind of rewriting of history where one version starts to replace another version. To me, the definitive version of the movie is what we released. But it doesn't mean you can't have fun with the technology." Meanwhile, look for TITANIC on Blu-ray in the near future along with a theatrical 3-D reissue in 2012.

James Cameron on the Avatar Blu-ray DVD
Transcribed by AMZ | Source: ecranlarge.com

James Cameron: Well the Blu-ray, because the disk has a lot of storage density, Blu-ray is the basis for 3D in the home . . . in the future. So they will have stereo Blu-ray players that can play stereoscopic 3D to a compatible screen. So probably the initial Blu-ray release of Avatar won't be in 3D and then a subsequent release will be in 3D. That's my guess right now. So we will probably put out a disk, you know, in six or eight months, let's call it six months, and then after that we will have a 3D disk when there are enough sets available.

I think in the first DVD release, we will put in a number of the scenes that we deleted from the film and I think there is some interesting material. We tried to get the film down to a good length, a good comfortable length to watch in 3D. There's two hours forty minutes, nobody's ever made a 3D film that long, so there is little bit of gamble that it would work, I didn't want people to get uncomfortable. But there's other material that we shot, that we edited and even some that we finished in CG, so we will put that into the disk.

Will Blu-ray Make You Want More 3D?
Blu-ray Disc Assoc. is the latest to push the 3D format, following Hollywood studios, display manufacturers and PC developers attempts at bringing 3D into the home.
By Arlen Schweiger | Source: electronichouse.com

U2, Monsters vs. Aliens, My Bloody Valentine, Chuck, the BCS National Championship, NBA All-Star Saturday Night—can you name the common theme? If you said, “They’ve all been filmed and broadcast in 3D,” then you win the grand prize. OK, maybe no prize, but it does mean that you’re up on the latest video trend.

We’ve come a long way from 20th-century campy sci-fi 3D movies, as anyone who’s attended an IMAX 3D showing can attest to. Yes, we’re still wearing glasses to get the full experience, but we’re being treated to 3D more and more these days. Is it still just a fad, or more of an experiment at this point, or do consumers really want it?

The Blu-ray Disc Association is trying to hammer home 3D a little further. It announced this week that it is going to work on implementing a standard for the format—something that wouldn’t be relegated to the red/blue “anaglyph” technology we’re used to. You’ve probably seen the commercials for My Bloody Valentine’s coincidental arrival on Blu-ray this week. “Blu-ray Disc is the ideal platform for bringing 3D technology to mainstream home entertainment,” the BDA said in a statement.

“The format has been widely embraced by consumers, and the 1080p picture quality and overall experience have become the standards against which all other high-definition delivery platforms are measured. Blu-ray Disc’s capacity, flexibility and incomparable picture quality coupled with the activities of the BDA’s 3D task force sets the stage for a 3D home entertainment specification that establishes another industry standard and enables an in-home 3D consumer experience unmatched by any other delivery mechanism.”

Television manufacturers are have been hopping on the 3D bandwagon with the development and sales of “3D-ready” HDTVs. At this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, 3D was everywhere, with companies such as Panasonic, Samsung, LG and Sony showcasing new models; while Florida’s football championship victory over Oklahoma was beamed live in 3D to the show audience. In the spring, Mitsubishi, which had already been selling 3D-ready DLP (Digital Light Processing) rear-projection televisions, announced a slew of new sets featuring the technology and ranging from 60 to a whopping 82 inches.

Panasonic develops 3D standard for BD disc
Source: heise-online.co.uk

Panasonic has submitted a proposal that describes a way of storing 3D content on conventional Blu-ray discs to the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA).

The Japanese vendor intends to make an early contribution to the standardisation process in order to avoid potential format wars – and, of course, to promote its own interests.

According to Nikkei Electronics Asia, Panasonic is also thinking about submitting a corresponding 3D extension to the HDMI standard.

The BDA plans to discuss the proposals before the end of the year and hopes to present first commercial results in 2010.

Panasonic's proposal closely follows well-established standard technologies and avoids proprietary methods. The images are to be encoded with the two-channel encoder already part of MPEG-4. The second channel will only contain the differential signal of the first channel, which considerably reduces the data volume. Panasonic estimates that this approach creates 1.5 times instead of twice the amount of 3D signal data and in addition, it allows the 3D discs to be played in 2D on conventional BD players. The video tracks for the right and left eye each offer the full HD resolution of 1920 × 1080 pixels.

The data is to be transferred to the display via HDMI, and the stereoscopic images for the right and left eye are to alternate in each frame. Finally, a flag in the MPEG-4 stream is to indicate that the material is 3D and tell the respective hardware how to handle the images. At the Ceatec show in Japan in October, Panasonic presented a plasma display with full HD resolution and capable of rendering 3D images using the proposed technology. The 103 inch plasma display received 120 frames – 60 each for the right and the left eye – per second from a modified Blu-ray player and alternated the frames accordingly.

Future is 3D BD, If Analysts Stop Sniping
By: Scott Hettrick | Source: hollywoodinhidef.com

I have seen the future of home media more clearly than ever.

That’s because I was looking at the future not through rose-colored glasses but through a pair of 3-D glasses viewing stunning images coming from a Blu-ray Disc at a private demonstration at Panasonic Hollywood Laboratory.

Unfortunately, bull-headed Blu-ray bashers seem determined to diminish the viability of the only format capable of delivering this and other new technologies to homes in the most meaningful way in the very near future. Here’s hoping that consumers and the industry’s new $25 million marketing campaign push past all the recent negative noise and make Blu-ray here to stay.

If you thought the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympics in Beijing looked amazing on your high-definition TV, they are twice as astounding in 1080p 3-D Hi-Def. Suddenly, it seems as if there are even more drummers, flags, and performers, all of whom you can see so well that you could identify them in a police line-up, and as if the giant stadium is even bigger, or at least it seems that way because it feels as if you are standing at the center of it, experiencing it firsthand.

The scenes of Hollywood movies utilizing this new process are equally spellbinding and even more enticing. Sitting in that room wearing comfortable black glasses with no mismatched color lenses, one’s mind begins to race with the potential of this medium: imagine effects-laden movies such as “Star Wars,” “Transformers,” “Dark Knight” and “Iron Man” in this format, computer-animated movies like “Wall-E” and “Kung-Fu Panda,” even sweeping epics of the past like “Out of Africa” and “Lawrence of Arabia.”

And then one’s pragmatic mind is quickly jolted with images of recent online postings of pessimism about the laggard sales of Blu-ray, the dire predictions of its future. The online blather is starting to eat at the perceptions of even the most ardent executive supporters at studios and electronics companies. Why? Based on what information and data is there a cause for legitimate concern? Blu-ray Disc hardware and software sales are up significantly this year over last year, and that is at a time when DVD sales are down even more significantly.