HDMI 1.3 will support 3D

The HDMI Licensing group has solved at least the Blu-ray side of the 3D problem. All devices with HDMI 1.3 and an upgrade connection method — Blu-ray Live decks (including PS3), satellite receivers and cable set-top boxes — can be upgraded to output 3D.

The problem is that for a 3D picture, two images have to be shown nearly simultaneously. Since HDMI 1.3 can’t handle two 1080p pictures at that speed, you’ll get two 1080i pictures. With HDMI 1.3 cable boxes, you’ll have the choice between HD and 3D, but not both.

Source: High-Def Digest.

Blu-Ray 3D finalized

The Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) yesterday announced the finalization and release of the “Blu-ray 3D^TM” specification. The specification, which represents the work of the leading Hollywood studios and consumer electronic and computer manufacturers, will enable the home entertainment industry to bring the 3D experience into consumers’ living rooms on Blu-ray Disc, the most capable high definition home entertainment platform.

The Blu-ray 3D specification calls for encoding 3D video using the Multiview Video Coding (MVC) codec, an extension to the ITU-T H.264 / MPEG-4 Advanced Video Coding (AVC) codec currently supported by all Blu-ray Disc players. MVC compresses both left and right eye views with a typical 50% overhead compared to equivalent 2D content, and can provide full 1080p resolution backward compatibility with current 2D Blu-ray Disc players. The specification also incorporates enhanced graphic features for 3D. These features provide a new experience for users, enabling navigation using 3D graphic menus and displaying 3D subtitles positioned in 3D video.

Source: Business Wire.

3D subtitles placement

Subtitling has presented unique challenges for 3D because of concerns that eye-popping imagery could block out the words on screen. Yet Technicolor (a Thomson division) believes it has worked out a placement solution so 3D technology won’t interfere with subtitle use.

“On the replication side, it has been a pretty straight-forward process,” said Ahmad Ouri, chief marketing officer of Thomson/Technicolor. “We are using the same machines, and there are no major changes. We are developing new encoding, authoring and subtitling tools. We are building something new, and we want to be the first to deliver on all of these components. I have no doubt that in the first half of next year, our technology will be ready.”

The company’s 3D launch is dependent on the Blu-ray Disc Association finalizing its specification for the 3D Blu-ray format. The BDA is expected to announce this accomplishment in the next couple of weeks.

Source: Video Business.

NVIDIA demonstrates 3D Blu-ray playback

NVIDIA has been demonstrating a complete 3D movie solution to movie studios, press, and customers, consisting of a PC equipped with a GeForce® GPU and NVIDIA® 3D Vision(TM) active-shutter 3D glasses, as well as new 1080p, 3D LCD displays from Acer to showcase how consumers will experience this new 3D Blu-ray content once it is commercially available.

Over the last few weeks, NVIDIA has successfully demonstrated playback of 3D content encoded with the AVC Multi-View Codec (or AVC-MVC), the codec that is expected to become the foundation for how 3D content is encoded onto Blu-ray discs. 3D Blu-ray content encoded in AVC-MVC can be decoded in real time on select NVIDIA GPUs -- resulting in a home 3D experience that is equal to or better to what is offered in movie theaters today.

NVIDIA GPUs that can decode 3D Blu-ray content include the GeForce GT 240 ($99 U.S. MSRP), as well as upcoming next-generation GF100 GPUs based on the NVIDIA "Fermi" architecture. This will allow consumers to build desktop PCs powered by GeForce GPUs and NVIDIA 3D Vision active shutter glasses for under $1000 in total, making them the ideal platform for watching 3D Blu-ray movies, viewing 3D photographs, browsing 3D Web sites, or playing more than 400 PC game titles in 3D.

For more information about NVIDIA 3D Vision technology, please visit: www.nvidia.com/3DVision.

First Worldwide Live Community Screening

Experience the first-ever worldwide Live Community Screening (LCS) exclusive to owners of the "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" Blu-ray Disc and hear star Daniel Radcliffe and director David Yates answer your questions during this live LCS on December 12th, 2009. Also be the first to see footage from "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows", featured on the Blu-ray and 2-Disc Special Editions of "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince", available on December 8th, 2009.

LCS initiatives using Blu-ray's Profile 2.0 internet connectivity have been tried by studios before, but this is the first to be available globally and with live audio. Previous linked screenings have been conducted via onscreen text messages.

Warner Bros. BD-Live community members who have registered and signed up will receive an emailed invitation to participate in the event. The first 100,000 members will secure a spot for the screening.

WB BD-Live registered users from the participating territories who own the Blu-ray Disc and have signed up for the BD-Live LCS event will be able to insert the disc, connect to WB BD-Live and logon to the LCS at this designated time to participate in this event.

BDA on 3D

The Blu-Ray Disc Association announced it will complete the specs of 3D BD by the end of this year, followed by studios launching their first 3D discs in 2010.

BDA members made some decisions this week, notably regarding backward-compatibility requirements. Any produced 3D discs will include a 2D version of the film that can be viewed with existing Blu-ray Disc players. Additionally, 3D-capable Blu-ray players must be able to run existing 2D titles.

Coinciding with BDA’s 3D developments, Sony laid out plans for a 2010 line of stereoscopic 3D-enabled products, whereas Panasonic has already committed to its own line of advanced 3D TVs and Blu-ray players, also set to bow in 2010.

Source: Video Business.

Sony 3D Blu-Ray in 2010

CNET Australia reports that Yoshinami Takahashi, deputy senior general manager, Home Entertainment Group, Sony Corporation, confirmed that 3D Blu-Ray discs and players would most likely hit the market in October or November of 2010.

Takahashi conceded that shorter-length content was more suited to the technology. As many viewers suffer from headaches and nausea watching full length movies in 3D, documentaries and animated shorts would probably be in greater demand.

Analysts on Blu-Ray future

Quoting from Home Media Magazine:

Depending on who is talking, Blu-ray is either evolving steadily as the high-definition sequel to standard DVD or a pricey consumer electronics curiosity.

J.P. Morgan analyst Imran Khan said he believes Blu-ray unlikely to be a significant near-term catalyst for packaged-media sales going forward considering the economy.

In a consumer survey conducted in December by a third-party vendor, just 62% of respondents were familiar with Blu-ray, and of those, more than 50% said they had no plans to buy a BD player in the next 12 months. This compared to 20% who indicated an interest in purchasing a player and 6% who already owned a BD player.

Among BD consumers, 4% said they intended to replace their collection of standard DVD with Blu-ray once the titles became available. Khan said the fact that only 14% of BD consumers intended to replace their DVD libraries underscored his position.

“The replacement of VHS libraries with DVD was a strong catalyst for the [home video] industry over the past decade,” Khan said in a research note. “For now, at least, it does not appear consumers intend to repeat the cycle with Blu-ray.”

However, a separate study from SNL Kagan found that despite BD’s sluggish start, the next-generation high-definition packaged-media format would attain nearly 60% market share in 2014 and generate $13.1 billion in revenue. The Monterey, Calif.-based research firm said BD market share would soar to 73.8%, or $15.6 billion in revenue by 2017.

“Blu-ray will be the driving force behind the video retail market throughout the next decade,” said Wade Holden, analyst at SNL Kagan. “The current economic climate, however, will slow the growth of this new format and likely keep it from reaching the heights that it may have [reached] in better times.”

Indeed, J.P. Morgan analyst Khan said his consumer study found price to be the primary deterrent to wider consumer adoption of Blu-ray. He said 42% of respondents would consider BD if the price rivaled DVD, even in the current economy.

In a comparison of the top 50 BD and standard-DVD movies on Amazon, Khan found the average price for a new BD release to be $23.90 compared to $17.91 for DVD. Library titles averaged $20.23 for BD and $10.66 for DVD.

The analyst determined that the average 33% price premium for Blu-ray movies over DVD was actually 29% on a weighted-average basis when factoring that the most in-demand releases such as The Dark Knight, Wall-E, Iron Man and Transformers in BD were priced just 12% above DVD.

“We expect Blu-ray discs to drive some incremental sales, but think it’s unlikely their contribution will drive significant out-performance in the coming 12 months,” Khan said.

Blu-ray sales increasing

Quoting from High-Def Digest:

The Blu-ray Disc player industry is seeing increased sales over the past two and a half years. Since the technology was unveiled, 10.7 million players (including Playstation 3s) have been shipped to retail stores across the US. The 2008 sales have increased three-fold compared to 2007 estimates.

According to Adams Media Research, the household penetration for Blu-ray Disc players is 8% after slightly less than three years on the market. Compare this to the three-year estimates of about 3% for Color TV, 2% for CDs and 4% for DVDs, and Blu-rays are looking to be a rapidly growing industry.

Software sales for Blu-ray Disc players are increasing as well. This past October was the first month to hit 2 million disc sales, which increased to 8 million by December. At the close of 2008, disc sales stood at 24.09 million for the year, bringing the total since launch to over 30 million sales.

Future Blu-ray Disc players are using the “BD-Live” technology which allows users to interact with the player over a broadband network. And there will be a significant addition to the 53 disc titles which already allow a digital copy to be downloaded and viewed on mobile devices. Sales of Blu-ray Disc players are projected to increase two to three fold in the next year, according to Adams Media Research.

Digital Copy

I am now the happy owner of a Blu-Ray Disc player. For Christmas, I've just bought a copy of "The Dark Knight", the last Batman movie, which was basically the most awaited BD of the year. It is truly a great movie, I love it! You can read the review on High-Def Digest if you are intersted.

The package included an authorization code to download a Digital Copy from the Warner Bros. Internet site. Cut&paste from the WB support information FAQ:

What is a Digital Copy? Digital Copy is a Windows Media™ compatible copy of a movie which can be quickly and legally transferred from a purchased DVD to a PC or PlaysForSure™ portable media device.

How do I get started? To use Digital Copy, you will need a PC running Windows XP or Windows Vista, Windows Media Player 10 or above, a DVD-ROM drive, and an Internet connection. No downloading is required but you'll need to connect to the Internet the first time you run the disc to enter a special code to get your copy of the movie.

So I downloaded the Digital Copy of "The Dark Knight" in a couple of hours: there are two separate Windows Media files. The first one is 2 GB, 720x400 at 25 fps format with an average bit-rate of 4.5 Mb/s and includes five languages: English, French, Spanish, German and Italian. The second one is 625 MB, 320x176 at 25 fps format with an average bit-rate of 600 kb/s and includes only one language (Italian, in my case). The quality looks good, but nothing comparable to Blu-Ray, of course.

Oh, and by the way, be very careful with your authorization code:

How many times can my authorization code be used? The authorization code can be used once. One authorization code will provide 1 PC and 1 portable media device copy license.