NHK's Hybridcast Streaming Service Brings Full HD 3D To TV Sets
There's a lot of talk these days surrounding 3D. It's obviously the hottest topic around in the cinema business, but it's also getting a lot of attention in the consumer universe. Sales of 3DTVs has analysts and companies alike buzzing, and while many suggest that the adoption has been relatively slow and lackluster, much of that is blamed on a lack of content. In other words, what enticement do consumers have to invest in a 3DTV when there's hardly any 3D content to enjoy? NHK, a broadcasting outfit based in Japan, may have a solution to the subpar 3D image quality coming across typical wires.
The company recently demonstrated a new content delivery system prototype, called Hybridcast Streaming. Currently, most pay-TV providers shoot 3D content to your set via a "side-by-side" method, which pumps two images together into a single 1080p frame. It works, but it's hardly elegant, and you lose resolution in the process. So how do you add that resolution back? By sending half of the signal over typical TV cabling, and the other half over the Internet.
The NHK transmission system sends one image for one eye over one medium, and the other eye's image over another medium. When they meet, a true 1080p image results. Currently, there's no set plans to bring this to the commercial market, but we highly doubt they'd research this and showcase this without any commercialization plans at all. Time to step up the 3D shooting, now that we've got a way to bring genuine 1080p 3D content to the TV set.
The company recently demonstrated a new content delivery system prototype, called Hybridcast Streaming. Currently, most pay-TV providers shoot 3D content to your set via a "side-by-side" method, which pumps two images together into a single 1080p frame. It works, but it's hardly elegant, and you lose resolution in the process. So how do you add that resolution back? By sending half of the signal over typical TV cabling, and the other half over the Internet.
The NHK transmission system sends one image for one eye over one medium, and the other eye's image over another medium. When they meet, a true 1080p image results. Currently, there's no set plans to bring this to the commercial market, but we highly doubt they'd research this and showcase this without any commercialization plans at all. Time to step up the 3D shooting, now that we've got a way to bring genuine 1080p 3D content to the TV set.
