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/ 08.25.2010 3:00PM
BBC is Not So Ready for 3DTV
LONDON: England broadcaster BBC is not making plans to deliver
3DTV. At least not yet, according to reports from across the pond. Officials at
the Beeb aren’t yet certain which format will be adopted for 3DTV and are
reluctant to launch it and later have to re-engineer it, says Broadband TV News.
Graham Plumb, the BBC’s head of distribution technology, told
BTVN’s sister pub that terrestrial
broadcasting’s approach to 3DTV may differ from that of satellite carriers.
BSkyB did a limited launch of 3DTV earlier this year over the high-definition
infrastructure of its satellite-delivered TV system. The operator is using a
frame-compatible format by which the dual images of the 3D content are
delivered side-by-side. The format works on BSkyB’s HD set-top boxes.
Members of the European Broadcasting Union recently indicated their preference
for using the service-compatible format to deliver stereoscopic TV. They now
use the service-compatible method to delivery HDTV. It would require less
bandwidth for 3DTV than frame-compatible delivery. However, one-third of EBU members
responding to a survey regarding 3DTV said they didn’t think current formats
would work over their infrastructures.
Multicasting is another factor in the BBC’s hesitation to adopt 3DTV. The
broadcaster has multiple digital channels, similar to many TV stations in the
United States.
BTVN points out that
it would be a “major challenge” to fit 3D signals on existing terrestrial TV
systems.
Broadband TV News
has more details in
“BBC
unready to commit to 3DTV format”
See...
July 6, 2010: “EU Broadcasters Prefer
Service-compatible 3DTV”
A majority of broadcasters in European Union countries prefer a 3D format
other than the side-by-side stereoscopy currently used by most operations. More
than half would prefer to see a service-compatible format adopted.
July 6, 2010
: “ITU
Illustrates Frame-compatible 3DTV”
The International Telecommunications Union, a global standards-making body,
has issued a one-sheet presser on the basics of frame-compatible stereoscopic
TV.
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Sunday 12:00AM
EBU Pushes Hybrid Broadcast/Broadband TV
“Underlying this co-operation is the shared conviction that... only a flexible, cross-border approach will make it happen quickly.” ~ Ingrid Deltenre