Sisvel Technology Shows New 3D Tile Format Live at IFA 2010

3D Broadcasting Backwards Compatible

BERLIN — Sisvel’s booth at IFA 2010 demonstrated the 3D Tile Format live in its entirety — from production, broadcasting to distribution. This broadcasting demonstration has received tremendous attention. The 3D Tile Format is ready to be adopted by the market and field trials are expected to launch in the near future.

Following last year’s introduction of 3DSwitch – the user friendly automatic 2D/3D format recognition – Sisvel Technology, a spin-off of the Sisvel Group devoted to research, development, and technical consulting, continues to innovate in the field of 3D TV.

The 3D Tile Format enables delivery of HD 3D content with a higher quality than current solutions (Side by Side or Top and Bottom) and allows broadcasters to transmit a single service for 2D and 3D audiences. Consumers with 3D equipment can fully enjoy a 3D viewing experience while consumers with traditional 2D TV sets will appreciate the service in 2D.

Current issues in 3D Broadcasting

The idea behind 3D video is the transmission of two separate images (Left and Right), to reproduce human stereoscopic vision, packed in a single stream. The current systems squeeze the Left and Right images into a single High Definition frame and the service provider reuses part of the existing production and the entire distribution infrastructure.

This approach not only causes a loss in the video quality, halving the vertical or horizontal resolution of the source image, but also makes the 3D transmission unsuitable for viewing on 2D TV receivers.

The challenge was to avoid the drawbacks of the current frame packing techniques.

3D Tile Format – Sisvel Technology’s solution to improve 3D broadcasting

To overcome these drawbacks in 3D broadcasting, Sisvel Technology has created the 3D Tile Format– a solution allowing the integrated storage of two stereoscopic 720p frames into a single 1080p frame. The reconstructed Left and Right pictures keep their original resolution and will not be affected by the unbalance of the Vertical and Horizontal resolution.

The layout of the images within the Tile Format, together with standard compliant technologies developed by Sisvel Technology, seamlessly allows the decoding of 2D video from the 3D transmission.

“The 3D Tile Format technology we developed offers great benefits for the whole market, from broadcasters to TV manufacturers and consumers,” states Mr. Paolo D’Amato, CEO of Sisvel Technology. “Standardization bodies are currently considering adoption of our tile framing system. Thanks to the creativity of the 3D Tile Format, this system can even be implemented into the last generation of HD set top boxes and TV sets with a simple software update.”

The 3D Tile Format technology is currently being exhibited at IFA 2010 (Hall 2.2 booth 114) and will also be shown at the forthcoming IBC in Amsterdam (Hall 5, booth A15).

More: 3D Tile Format (pdf)