Sony, Panasonic, Samsung and XpanD Create 3D Glasses Initiative


MULTIPLE CITIES: Panasonic, Sony, Samsung and XpanD today announced their intent to jointly develop a new technology standard for consumer 3D active glasses, under the name, “Full HD 3D Glasses Initiative.”

With this new agreement, the companies said they intend to develop and license radio-frequency system 3D-active glasses technology, including RF system protocols between consumer 3D active glasses and 3D displays such as televisions, personal computers, projectors and 3D theaters with XpanD active shutter glasses.

The standardization will also include multiple types of infrared system protocols between 3D active glasses and 3D displays, ranging from the protocols jointly developed by Panasonic and XpanD 3D, to the proprietary protocols of Samsung and Sony, respectively.

The license of today’s newly announced initiative is targeted to be released next month, at which time the development of new standardization-applied active 3D glasses will begin. Universal glasses with the new IR/RF protocols will be available in 2012, and are targeted to be backward-compatible with 2011 active 3DTVs.

Through this initiative, the four companies aim to widely introduce universal active 3D glasses to the market.

“Panasonic has been working to standardize 3D glasses technologies, and in March, we announced a joint licensing of IR system protocols with XpanD, backed by several participant companies.,” said Masayuki Kozuka, general manager of Media & Content Alliance Office in Panasonic’s R&D Division. “We hope the expanded collaboration on this 3D standardization initiative will make a significant contribution toward accelerating the growth of 3D-related products.”

Sony’s Jun Yonemitsu, deputy senior general manager for the Home Entertainment Development Division, said, “We believe active 3D technology is the most suitable method to deliver full 1080p picture quality to each eye.”

-- Television Broadcast