L.A. Firm Hopes to Corner Aftermarket in 3D Accessory Glasses
CEA last year established a working group to study developing a standard for 3D glasses that would allow eyewear to work across multiple brands of 3D TVs. But some observers we polled told Consumer Electronics Daily that the quest for a standard on 3D goggles that all TV makers will adhere to likely will be no more successful than fashioning truly universal remote control codes. When it comes down to it, these observers said, no one supplier of 3D TVs wants consumers to use the glasses sold or bundled with another brand’s set.
Under that scenario, consumers who own one brand of 3D TV but want to take the 3D glasses supplied with that set to a friend’s house to watch a future Super Bowl telecast in 3D on a different brand of TV will be out of luck or will need to buy third-party glasses that are cross-compatible. That’s the very scenario third-party 3D eyewear vendor XpanD Cinema is hoping for, with a vested business interest in the outcome.
“Not all display manufacturers will allow their glasses to move from TV to TV,” said Ami Dror, chief strategy officer at XpanD. One reason is competitive and the other is timing, Dror said. “The CEA standard isn’t ready, and manufacturers can’t delay the development of TVs to wait for it.”
Los Angeles-based XpanD, which globally sold 2 million active-shutter 3D glasses to theaters last year, owns 95 percent of the business in active 3D glasses, Dror said. The company plans to supply active 3D glasses for Vizio’s XVT Pro TVs, he said. Vizio and XpanD are studying plans to bundle one set of glasses with each TV, with extra glasses expected to sell for about $50 to $100 each in the accessories aftermarket, he said. The Vizio XVT Pro TVs communicate with the glasses over Bluetooth, displaying full 1080p video to each eye by rapidly alternating between the left-eye and right-eye images within the same visual space, he said. Dror said XpanD will supply 3D glasses for other unnamed TV vendors, while some TV makers will develop their own.
Major TV makers we polled were noncommittal about most aspects of their 3D glasses plans. Likewise, none of the companies we canvassed was willing to comment on whether it supports or opposes a 3D glasses standard at CEA. One exception was Mitsubishi, where Product Development Director David Naranjo said his company hasn’t finalized its plans on 3D glasses, but supports a CEA standard.
Sony’s Bravia LX900 series of 3D-ready LCD TVs each will be bundled with two pairs of active-shutter glasses, spokesman Greg Belloni said. Sony’s HX900 and HX800 models will be upgradable for 3D with the purchase of glasses and transmitters that connect, but no pricing has been set on those add-on accessories, Belloni said. Panasonic, meanwhile, said it plans to bundle one pair of active-shutter glasses with each of its 3D plasma sets, but that the company hasn’t yet decided how much to charge for extra glasses.
Dror of XpanD claims the company’s third-party glasses will work with 90 percent of 3D TVs that come to market. The automatic glasses wake up every two seconds and look for infrared information, Dror said. When they recognize the infrared code from a particular manufacturer, they lock on the signal, Dror said. If they don’t recognize the signal they go into sleep mode, Dror said. Each pair of glasses also will recognize XpanD Cinema mode, which has mainly been used overseas where active-shutter technology is more prevalent in theaters, Dror said. U.S. 3D theaters predominantly use polarization glasses, while all TV manufacturers except JVC have chosen active-shutter glasses technology for 3D TV, Dror said. If active-shutter glasses were to take hold in U.S. cinemas, Dror said, consumers would be able to use their glasses both at home and at the theater.
Dror said active-shutter glasses will speak different languages, similar to how TVs use proprietary infrared codes for remotes. “Our glasses will be like a universal remote control,” he said. He said the entry point to active-shutter glasses is expensive because of the design variable involved. “When you manufacture shutter glasses, you have physical limitations such as weight. And they have to fit to different head shapes for kids and for adults. Unlike a universal remote that sits on your table, this has to fit on your head.”
XpanD hopes to get a leg up on the aftermarket glasses business while other companies get up to speed, Dror said. The company has manufacturing plants in Beaverton, Ore., and in China with production capacity of 25,000 units a day, he said. A new plant also is due to go online soon in Slovenia, he said. Dror expects 3D glasses to sell for $50 to $250, depending on lens type, construction, materials and style, he said. “It’s like the difference in sunglasses,” he said. “Price depends on the quality of the plastic, lens and who designs it.” Dror said XpanD is also studying whether to offer prescription 3D glasses for those who regularly wear eyeglasses to watch movies or TV. “We're working on it,” he said. “When you order the 3D glasses, you can have the prescription lens built in.”
Meanwhile, Nvidia has provided an active-shutter kit for several years for PC-based 3D solutions using DLP TVs and PC monitors. The 3D vision kit lists for $199, including glasses, emitter, cable and software drivers. Additional glasses are $149. According to Bryan Del Rizzo, senior PR manager for consumer products at Nvidia, the company will continue to focus on a PC-centric solution based on the Nvideo graphics processor for games, Blu-ray discs and web-streaming.
The Nvidia kit will be compatible with 3D TVs using HDMI 1.4, Del Rizzo said, but the PC has to be in the middle. “We're always going to have a PC component to our solution because we believe the PC is driving the content,” he said, noting that the cost to entry is much lower on the PC side where a consumer can get a 3D PC solution for as low as $800. “We're not going to sell active-shutter glasses for the TV market because everything we do is driven by our graphics processor,” he said. In the future, though, a PC-free solution could appear in the form of a set-top box with a built-in Nvidia graphics processor, he said, but no definitive plans are in the works on that front.
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CEA’s working group on 3D technologies, co-chaired by Mark Stockfisch of Quantum Data and Yeqing Wang of Motorola, “is focused on the project to standardize 3D eyewear and has agreed to work first on active-shutter glasses,” Brian Markwalter, CEA vice president of technology and standards, told us in an e-mail Monday. “The group is first working on requirements, or use cases, against which the standard will be developed,” Markwalter said. “For example, a use case to operate multiple 3D TVs in one room with no interference between systems is a much different requirement than limiting to a single TV environment.” Markwalter didn’t give an estimate of when the standard will be finished, but “the group is aware of the need to move quickly,” he said. “I don’t know what TV manufacturers think about the standard. All standards are voluntary. It will be up to individual companies to decide if they want to adopt the standard once it is complete. I can say that the group is active and working hard.”