Sky to launch 3D TV in 2010

On July 30, Sky announced that it will launch the UK’s first 3D channel next year. The channel will offer a broad selection of the best available 3D programming, which is expected to include movies, entertainment and sport.

The service will be broadcast across Sky’s existing HD infrastructure and be available via the current generation of SkyHD set-top boxes. To watch 3D, customers will also require a new '3D Ready' TV, which are expected to be on sale in the UK next year.

ESA conducting studies on SVC

The Telecommunications and Integrated Applications (TIA) directorate of the European Space Agency (ESA) is conducting a 12-months study on “Scalable Video Coding Applications and Technologies for mobile satellite based hybrid networks”.

The activity shall investigate the viability of integrating Scalable Video Coding (SVC) technologies over DVB-SH networks and disseminate its findings to relevant fora (e.g. DVB TM–SSP, DVB TM–CBMS, or DVB TM–AVC). Partners of the project are Nomor Research GmbH, Fraunhofer HHI, Fraunhofer IIS and Eutelsat S.A.

The individual study objectives may be summarized as follows:

• To gain insight on the benefits of state-of-the-art Scalable Video Coding (SVC), in a Mobile TV context,
• To analyze the DVB-SH specifications with regards to supporting SVC,
• To provide methods for estimating the gains offered by SVC with respect to H.264/AVC,
• To verify these methods by way of system simulations (to be set-up in the study) of selected DVB-SH use cases (to be identified in the study),
• To benchmark DVB-SH against other bearer technologies for Mobile TV that exploit SVC-based or non-SVC-based scalable video coding schemes, using public descriptions/results available for these other bearer technologies,
• If necessary, to influence the SVC standardisation process in DVB (TM-AVC), in coordination with other stakeholders within and outside TM-SSP,
• To provide recommendation for future work, using the tools developed.

Go to the project webpage.

Satellite live 3D-HD

Sat Expo Europe is an event dedicated to satellite applications and technology. At the Exhibition it will be possible to take part in the 3D-HD stereo shooting of a musical group that will perform on a set created specially for the occasion.

It will be a real concert that will integrally reproduce the conditions of a live event, and it will be shot using the stereoscopic technology elaborated by DBW communication and the contents will be transmitted via satellite with the technology activated by Open-sky.

For the demonstration the ATLANTIC BIRD™ 3 satellite by Eutelsat will be used and the contents will be received in the nearby conference pavilion, where the last supply chain ring will be completed, namely the three-dimensional projection in a film theatre that can be accessed by the public and which is equipped for this exclusive event.

See the press release.