A World First at the IFA: Live 3D TV without Glasses

A World First at the IFA: Live 3D TV without Glasses

PARIS and JENA, Germany, September 1/PRNewswire/ --

- Newsight (formally Opticality/X3D Technologies) Paves the Way for a New Dimension in Television

Visitors at this year's IFA in Berlin will for the first time ever be able to experience live content streamed in a glasses-free, three-dimensional television format. Newsight GmbH (formally Opticality/X3D Technologies) has together with companies Grundig and 3D Image Processing (3D IP) succeeded in capturing live video and streaming it through an autostereoscopic 3D display system in real time whereas prior 3D content had been limited to post-production material.

"This breakthrough will revolutionise home entertainment," said Jay Bingle, Chairman & CEO of Newsight. "We are leading the way to a new era in television - comparable to the passage from black-and-white to colour TV." Historically the IFA has always been the preferred platform to introduce milestones in the development of television to a broad public: in 1967 the first colour TV, in 1983 the first stereo colour TV. And now in 2005 the transition to live 3D TV without glasses.

To date, 3D content has had to go through a post-production process where it was specifically rendered for viewing without glasses. With this new breakthrough from Newsight/3D-IP/Grundig, subject matter can now be captured and transmitted in glasses-free 3D in real time. This eventually introduces an entirely new way to experience everything from sporting events to reality TV. Projected timing for the in-home experience is seen within the next few years given infrastructure and other requirements. As a first milestone, the plan is to broadcast a live sporting event in 3D in a selected venue during the football World Cup 2006.

The innovation is based on the ability to capture 3D with a remarkable single stereo-camera 1920x1080 (HDTV) in combination with a real-time processing operation. In the past, such 3D content was typically captured with eight or sometimes two cameras, and then it was processed for delayed off-line playback. With this new advancement, a scene is captured live in two perspectives using a professional high-resolution stereo camera with special image processing hardware code-named Black Betty, developed by partner company 3D-IP. These two data streams are then routed through a converter chip, which synthesises multiple viewpoints from a 3D scene in real time. A total of eight stereo views are generated, combined and then played back on a modified Grundig Tharus 3D TV screen. "This technical and human challenge, which led to the final breakthrough, was possible thanks to our industry-leading experts." said Paul-Louis Meunier, managing director of Newsight GmbH.

The Tharus, a standard flat panel TV, is converted into a 3D display by integrating a filter, specially developed by Newsight, into the TV set. Eight pictures are shown simultaneously and projected in different directions, so that the eye of the observer perceives each of the different perspectives. 3D glasses are not needed with this system: the 3D image can be seen with the naked eye.

Now the consumer can truly experience the world as it is in reality - live and three-dimensional - not flat.

About Newsight GmbH

Newsight GmbH (formally Opticality/X3D Technologies) is the global pioneer in alternative visual solutions. By combining breakthroughs from both its media and technology operations, it has created a world of digital display solutions that offer complete market differentiation. Newsight Media Solutions establishes customisable, retail-based narrowcast networks of 2D and 3D digital displays. This is supported by Newsight Technologies, which leads the world with its patented glasses-free 3D technology. For more information, visit www.newsight.com.

About Grundig visit www.grundig.com

Media Contacts Newsight (formally X3D Technologies) Manuela Fischer +49-3641-488-263 m.fischer@newsight.com

MS&L Dr. Simone Metzger +49-6171-5887-48 simetzger@mslpr.de

Source: X3D Technologies GmbH

Newsight (formally X3D Technologies), Manuela Fischer, +49-3641-488-263, m.fischer@newsight.com. MS&L, Dr. Simone Metzger, +49-6171-5887-48, simetzger@mslpr.de

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