TV giants team up for new 3D glasses standard

TV manufacturers Panasonic, Samsung and Sony and 3D technology specialist Xpand 3D have teamed up to develop a new technology standard for consumer 3D active glasses.

The Full HD 3D Glasses Initiative will see the companies work together on the development and licensing of radio frequency system 3D active glasses technology, including RF system protocols between consumer 3D active glasses and 3D display devices with Xpand active shutter glasses.

The standardization will also include multiple types of infrared system protocols between 3D active glasses and 3D displays, ranging from the protocols jointly developed by Panasonic and Xpand 3D to the proprietary protocols of Samsung and Sony, respectively, according to the companies.

A licence is targeted to be released in September 2011, when the development of new standardization-applied active 3D glasses is expected to begin. Universal glasses with the new IR/RF protocols will be made available in 2012, and are targeted to be backward compatible with 2011 3D active TVs, according to the group.

The new glasses will be designed to enable full HD 3D picture quality to be displayed to each eye. They will also enable viewers to move around more freely thanks to the application of Bluetooth technology, according to the partners.