Big Picture Big Sound

The Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) announced finalized specifications for 3D on Blu-ray this week. The standards will ensure compatibility between both hardware and software capable of playing Blu-ray 3D and will carry over to display devices to be used to render these 3D images.

The new specifications refer to Blu-ray 3D discs and Blu-ray 3D players and uses Multiview Video Coding (MVC) codec. This codec is an extension to the ITU-T H.264 Advanced Video Coding (AVC) codec, which is already supported by current Blu-ray players. Additional encoding separates MPEG4-MVC compressed streams for both the left and right eye views.  This allows for stereoscopic rendering and decoding by compatible display devices.

"From a technological perspective, it is simply the best available platform for bringing 3D into the home," said Benn Carr, chairman, of BDA 3D Task Force.

Players will remain compatible for 2-D content going forward. That means 2-D playback will be possible on Blu-ray 3D players. The 3-D format is seeing a surge in popularity in theaters thanks to A-List titles being released in 3D such as Disney/Pixar's UP and James Cameron's Avatar. "Throughout this year, movie goers have shown an overwhelming preference for 3-D when presented with the option to see a theatrical release in either 3-D or 2-D," Victor Matsuda, chairman, BDA Global Promotions Committee said.

The completed specification is expected to be published before long. Individual manufacturers and content providers will be provided with technical information and guidelines to develop and release products. Expect release dates of Blu-ray 3D hardware and software to follow.