Full HD Glasses Initiative Plans 2012 Launch of Active-Shutter Glasses For Use in Home and Cinema

Within months of Panasonic and Xpand announcing M-3DI, a standard for 3D active-shutter eyewear (CED March 29 p4), and RealD’s licensing agreement with Samsung’s LCD unit for active-shutter 3D technology viewable through RealD glasses, three of the four companies joined forces with Sony on a new technology standard for consumer 3D active glasses under the name “Full HD 3D Glasses Initiative.” According to a prepared statement from Samsung, Sony, Panasonic and Xpand, the standardization encompasses RF and IR protocols including M-3DI and proprietary protocols from Samsung and Sony. Chips will be provided by Broadcom, Nordic and CSR, according to a Bluetooth spokeswoman.

The Full HD 3D Glasses Initiative members said they intend to work together on the development and licensing of Bluetooth RF system active glasses technology between glasses and TVs, PCs, projectors and 3D cinemas. The license from the initiative is slated for release in September when development of new “standardization-applied active 3D glasses will begin,” the companies said. Glasses compatible with the IR/RF protocols are due on the market in early 2012 and are “targeted to be backward compatible” with 2011 3D active TVs, they said.

Not all glasses will work with all TVs, Peter Fannon, vice president of technology policy for Panasonic, told us. Generally, RF glasses will work with RF TVs and IR glasses with IR TVs, he said. Multi-modal glasses, typically the kind of universal glasses offered by Xpand, will work on either type of TV and in compatible theaters, he said. Going forward, “it’s expected that the four companies will lead with RF technology in their 3D products,” Fannon said. “This development moves our four companies into the RF sphere,” he said, noting that Panasonic’s most recent line of TVs is Bluetooth-RF based. The company’s original 3D TVs were IR-based, but “if you get eyewear from Panasonic, it will work on those TVs,” he said. “I can’t speak to other companies,” he said. “The goal is to encompass the operation of these three TV manufactures’ devices and Xpand’s theatrical properties,” he said.

When asked why manufacturers didn’t take this approach from the beginning, Fannon said, “As always, when products are launched, there’s a tremendous competitive battle going on and companies typically aren’t sharing information with each other about their next iteration in product design.” Once manufacturers were in the 3D arena, “it became apparent that it would be wise to talk about common standards and protocols,” he said. That took some time, given the various specifications manufacturers used. Now, “the good news is, these three TV makers, who represent the vast majority of 3D TVs at this time, have been able to come together to provide a common solution that remains backward-compatible in most instances,” he said.

Regarding competitiveness from the passive TV side, Fannon extolled the virtues of active-shutter glasses in the home. The three TV companies have a vested interest in promoting the high quality of full-resolution HD that active-shutter technology provides, he noted, and passive TV provides only a quarter resolution image to each eye, he said. Although passive glasses currently offer an advantage in weight, cost and compatibility, Fannon said, “With the move to less expensive, very lightweight and near universal compatibility in active eyewear, it’s the best solution going forward."

Sharp and the new Elite brand of active-shutter 3D TVs are not part of the collaboration. A query to Sharp to find out why the company isn’t part of the group -- and about any plans to license the technology -- wasn’t answered by our deadline. Fannon said discussions are continuing with “many other companies” and past experience has taught that “it can take time for everyone to come on board.” He said the four companies are offering “tremendous opportunity for ease of access under this coming license."

CEA launched a working group last March to develop a new standards process for 3D glasses (CED March 10 p 6), with hopes of having a standard approved by October. Principle areas of focus for the standard were the interface between the glasses and the TV, signaling between the TV and the glasses, set up and control and polarization. In May, the group drafting the 3D eyewear standard decided to proceed in developing a standard for IR signaling based primarily on one of the protocol approaches proposed, Brian Markwalter, CEA senior vice president, research and standards, told Consumer Electronics Daily. The working group reported last week that they expect to finish a draft for comment in August with a final vote expected at CEA’s Industry Forum in October, Markwalter said. Meantime, he said, “CEA is pleased to see the industry announcement of a collaboration to further advance work toward a specification for 3D eyewear, which will benefit consumers,” he said.

Fannon said the four companies had been participating with the CEA group but that CEA most recently has been focused on the passive side: “Now with this initiative going forward, we will provide the information to CEA, and we expect, when the time is right, that the CEA working group will also address common active eyewear."

For Samsung, the collaboration underscores the company’s promise to meet consumers’ needs, said Jurack Chae, vice president of R&D in Samsung’s visual display business, a separate group from the Samsung unit working with RealD on a passive-glasses model. “To date, active 3D technology has proven to be the most popular choice for consumers in the 3D TV market,” he said in a statement. Citing NPD numbers reporting that active 3D technology represented 96 percent share of the U.S. 3D TV market in the first half of 2011, the Full HD 3D Glasses Initiative will “help further drive consumer adoption and understanding of active 3D -— the technology that provides the clearest and most immersive 3D experience available,” he said. Sony’s statement also reaffirmed the company’s commitment to active 3D TV.