SpectraCal Upgrades Its HDMI Test Device For 3D
Glitches in 3D implementation at the home theater level have prompted test equipment company SpectraCal to upgrade its HDMI test device with 3D features to help integrators identify issues more easily in the field, the company told Consumer Electronics Daily.
"There are multiple flavors of how people are doing 3D,” Jeff Murray, president of SpectraCal Sales, Inc. told us, and that led the company to upgrade its model 780 handheld testing unit “so that installers have a way to make sure that a TV can support the different 3D formats, and that the source device is outputting the proper 3D formats,” Murray said. The 780 tester, engineered by Quantum Data, allows custom integrators to verify 3D functionality between 3D source equipment and displays using four tests that enable integrators to quickly troubleshoot problems, he said.
SpectraCal’s 3D test applications include firmware, software and test patterns for analyzing Blu-ray players and HDTVs, Murray said. In one test, the 780 emulates a 3D source device. If 3D images aren’t rendered properly for each of the mandatory 3D formats, that indicates a problem with the video display. Installers can then check to see if a firmware update is available to correct the problem. In another test, the 780 emulates the source device to test the HDMI signal path to determine if the 3D signal properly passes from the output of the source device to the video display. If 3D images aren’t rendered properly, that indicates a problem with one of the repeater devices in the HDMI path between the source device and the display device, SpectraCal said. The tester acts as both good source and good display in the third test, which checks each component in the signal delivery path. The fourth test enables installers to view the 3D source video, verify signal timing, and verify the proper 3D metadata.
When asked if the company is aware of situations in the field where purported 3D products have not performed to spec, Murray told us, “Yes,” declining to name manufacturers or brands because of non-disclosure agreements. He said the issues were brought to the company’s attention by integrators who have encountered glitches in communication between TVs and source devices, he said. He added that the problems don’t typically occur with “big-name manufacturers that move a lot of boxes. It usually happens more in the custom arena where there’s just not enough testing getting done,” he said. He cited specialty audio/video receivers that are supposed to pass through the data but don’t for various reasons including HDCP issues. “The reality right now is there is no HDMI 1.4 silicon on the open market yet, so everybody is pretty much trying to implement functions of 1.4 within 1.3 HDMI,” he said. The 3D experience is “all early,” Murray added, noting that no reference methodologies for 3D calibration have been set yet by video standards organizations including Imaging Science Foundation and THX.
On a recent cross-country dealer training tour, Murray said the company learned there’s a general lack of understanding when it comes to 3D “and what it does to resolution and light output.” He observed that some specialty retailers are selling 3D TV as a feature, not a TV type. “They're saying to customers, ‘you're going to watch 95 percent of your content in 2D, but you should buy a 3D TV because it’s only a $400-$500 add-on,'” he said. Selling 3D as an option, rather than the next type of TV, downplays the obsolescence anxiety, he said. “I think that’s a great strategy because that eliminates the confusion from the customer’s end about fearing it’s too early to buy.”