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Verizon and Panasonic Stream Full HD 3D

Verizon — partnered with Panasonic — is streaming Full HD 3D, in a technology demonstration set up in the South Hall Blogger Lounge. The companies suggest that this is another way of delivering quality 3D content to the home.

Plans are to offer this capability through FiOS, which in the demo was used to stream at 18Mpbs from its media server to a Panasonic Blu-ray player, which handled the decoding.

The demo showed Alice in Wonderland, streaming at half resolution, compared with A Christmas Carol, at Full HD.

A start date for this service has not been set.

In the South Hall press room, Verizon is showing additional services: Flex View, a new feature of FiOS TV that allows customers to display content on a TV, online and on select mobile devices (Q4 availability); and a home control system, enabling users to control devices in the home using a TV, smartphone or the web (a pilot program begins in late January).

3D Active Shutter Glasses from XPAND

XPAND’s YOUniversal active shutter 3D glasses and accompanying iPhone or Android app provide a new level of comfort and customization to your 3D viewing experience. Three innovations distinguish these glasses from previous active shutter gear; ergonomics, a built-in micro-USB connector, and an app for customizing the viewing experience.

Ergonomics: these glasses are exceptionally light weight, and fit comfortable. At their highest setting, the transition speeds of the shutter lenses are extremely fast; 1.5 milliseconds to transition from black to clear, and 0.3 milliseconds to transition from clear to black. This reduces the likelihood of crosstalk and can result in a more comfortable long-term viewing experience.

The micro-USB port accepts Bluetooth, RF, IR, an additional battery, and other peripherals. The port is on the end of the ear piece behind the right ear, so any additional weight is barely perceptible on the wearer’s ear and counters the weight of the glasses on the wearer’s nose bridge.

The app takes advantage of the fact that there are electronics in the glasses. The consumer inputs a number of factors into the app, including their TV brand/model number, their viewing distance from the TV, whether or not they are wearing prescription glasses, whether they like an aggressive 3D experience or not, and whether they are in a brightly lit or dimly lit room. The app adjusts the glasses’ shutter on/off trigger times so the viewing experience can range from a bright, aggressive 3D experience to a dim, more relaxing 3D experience. The 3D effect on the screen in not changed; only the timing and duration of the light reaching each eye. A clear benefit of this feature is that the viewer has a tool to manually eliminate crosstalk any time it becomes perceptible.

XPAND is positioning these glasses as a high-end consumer product. Pricing will be in the $200/pair range.

At the other end of the product spectrum, XPAND is planning to soon announce a “family pack” containing four non-upgradeable active shutter 3D glasses at “an affordable price.”

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Specification for Naming VFX Image Sequences Released

ETC’s VFX Working Group has published a specification for best practices naming image sequences such as plates and comps. File naming is an essential tool for organizing the multitude of frames that are inputs and outputs from the VFX process. Prior to the publication of this specification, each organization had its own naming scheme, requiring custom processes for each partner, which often resulted in confusion and miscommunication.

The new ETC@USC specification focuses primarily on sequences of individual images. The initial use case was VFX plates, typically delivered as OpenEXR or DPX files. However, the team soon realized that the same naming conventions can apply to virtually any image sequence. Consequently, the specification was written to handle a wide array of assets and use cases.

To ensure all requirements are represented, the working group included over 2 dozen participants representing studios, VFX houses, tool creators, creatives and others.  The ETC@USC also worked closely with MovieLabs to ensure that the specification could be integrated as part of their 2030 Vision.

A key design criteria for this specification is compatibility with existing practices.  Chair of the VFX working group, Horst Sarubin of Universal Pictures, said: “Our studio is committed to being at the forefront of designing best industry practices to modernize and simplify workflows, and we believe this white paper succeeded in building a new foundation for tools to transfer files in the most efficient manner.”

This specification is compatible with other initiatives such as the Visual Effects Society (VES) Transfer Specifications. “We wanted to make it as seamless as possible for everyone to adopt this specification,” said working group co-chair and ETC@USC’s Erik Weaver. “To ensure all perspectives were represented we created a team of industry experts familiar with the handling of these materials and collaborated with a number of industry groups.”

“Collaboration between MovieLabs and important industry groups like the ETC is critical to implementing the 2030 Vision,” said Craig Seidel, SVP of MovieLabs. “This specification is a key step in defining the foundations for better software-defined workflows. We look forward to continued partnership with the ETC on implementing other critical elements of the 2030 Vision.”

The specification is available online for anyone to use.

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