Committee to Define Parameters of Stereoscopic 3-D Mastering Standard for Home Display
The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) is establishing a task force to define the parameters of a stereoscopic 3-D mastering standard for content viewed in the home. Called 3-D Home Display Formats Task Force, the project promises to propel the 3-D home entertainment industry forward by setting the stage for a standard that will enable 3-D feature films and other programming to be played on all fixed devices in the home, no matter the delivery channel. The inaugural meeting of the Task Force is open to entertainment technology professionals interested in participating in the effort, subject to available space (SMPTE membership not required). It takes place on August 19, 2008 and will be hosted by the Entertainment Technology Center (ETC) at the University of Southern California, near downtown Los Angeles.
“Digital technologies have not only paved the way for high quality 3-D in the theaters, they have also opened the door to 3-D in the home,” explained SMPTE Engineering Vice President Wendy Aylsworth. “In order to take advantage of this new opportunity, we need to guarantee consumers that they will be able to view the 3-D content they purchase and provide them with 3-D home solutions for all pocketbooks.”
The 3-D Home Display Formats Task Force will explore the standards that need to be set for 3-D content distributed via broadcast, cable, satellite, packaged media and the Internet and played-out on televisions, computer screens and other tethered displays. After six months, the committee will produce a report that defines the issues and challenges, minimum standards, evaluation criteria and more, which will serve as a working document for SMPTE 3-D standards efforts to follow.
The first 3-D Home Display Formats Task Force gathering will feature demonstrations of 3-D technologies. All technology professionals in content creation and distribution, consumer electronics and entertainment tools and services who are considering joining the group are welcome to attend. Non-members will be asked to pay a small fee for the meeting, and ongoing participation in the work requires membership in the SMPTE Standards Community. Register at: http://www.smpte.org.
About the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers
The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) is the leading international technical society for the motion imaging industry. As an internationally recognized and accredited standards-setting body, SMPTE develops standards, recommended practices and guidelines and spearheads educational activities to advance engineering and moving imagery. Since its founding in 1916, the Society has established more than 600 standards including the physical dimensions of 35mm film and the SMPTE time code. More recently, it codified the MXF file format to support the exchange of professional AV content and crafted the Digital Cinema Standards, which paved the way for digital movie theaters. Headquartered in New York, SMPTE is comprised of engineers and other technical specialists, IT and new media professionals, filmmakers, manufacturers, educators and consultants in more than 65 countries. They are joined at SMPTE by more than 200 sponsoring corporations, principal players in content creation, production and delivery for all platforms and in entertainment hardware and software. http://www.smpte.org.
About the Entertainment Technology Center @ USC
The Entertainment Technology Center @ USC is a non-profit organization within USC’s School of Cinematic Arts which brings together the top entertainment, technology and consumer electronic companies to discuss how to understand what next-generation consumers want and then to work towards new entertainment products and services for the future. ETC’s Executive Sponsors are Disney, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Twentieth Century Fox, Viacom/Paramount, Warner Bros., along with Alcatel-Lucent, Cisco, Deluxe Entertainment Services Group, Inc., Lucasfilm Ltd, Sharp, TATA Consultancy Services, Thomson and Volkswagen of America. Additionally, ETC’s Anytime/Anywhere Content Lab (AACL) is sponsored by Dolby, LG Electronics and Sandisk.
One of ETC’s current initiatives is to map 3-D and identify gaps and opportunities for improvement in acquisition, production, to distribution in theaters, the home and digital devices. ETC is now conceptualizing the Digital 3-D Lab, as a part of the Anytime/Anywhere Content Lab, which will build on the success of ETC’s world-renowned Digital Cinema Laboratory. For more information, email: info@etcenter.org.
