Ever since Sony announced back at IFA 2009 that 3D would represent its centerpiece technology regarding home entertainment for 2010, we've been extremely curious about just how it will manage to combine it with its current flagship tech, Blu-ray. However, it seems that the consortium supporting the adoption of the Blu-ray format is ready with a solution to this problem, namely the final Blu-ray 3D specification.

As the BDA (Blu-ray Disc Association) informs us, this specification allows every Blu-ray 3D player and movie to deliver Full HD 1080p resolution to each eye, while also being “display agnostic.” This translates into the fact that Blu-ray 3D products will deliver the 3D image to any compatible 3D display, regardless of whether that display uses LCD, Plasma or other technology and regardless of what 3D technology the display uses to deliver the image to the viewer’s eyes.

Furthermore, this specification is directly related to the PS3 as well, since it will allow PS3 game consoles to play back Blu-ray 3D content in 3D. Additionally, the specification supports playback of 2D discs in forthcoming 3D players and can enable 2D playback of Blu-ray 3D discs on existing Blu-ray players.

Now, for some more technical details. So, the Blu-ray 3D specification calls for encoding 3D video using the Multiview Video Coding (MVC) codec, an extension to the ITU-T H.264 Advanced Video Coding (AVC) codec currently supported by all Blu-ray Disc players. The MPEG4-MVC compresses both left and right eye views with a typical 50% overhead compared to equivalent 2D content, and can provide full 1080p resolution backward compatibility with current 2D Blu-ray Disc players.

“Throughout this year, movie goers have shown an overwhelming preference for 3D when presented with the option to see a theatrical release in either 3D or 2D,” commented Victor Matsuda, chairman, BDA Global Promotions Committee. “We believe this demand for 3D content will carry over into the home now that we have, in Blu-ray Disc, a medium that can deliver a quality Full HD 3D experience to the living room.”

Well, I guess this answers my initial question. So, get ready, Sony, your bank accounts are about to get a serious refill the coming years.


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