In the vast shadow of the release of James Cameron’s Avatar, the Blu-ray Disc Association released the finalized 3D specifications. 3D media has bounced in and out of pop culture since the 1950s when it was introduced as a way for motion pictures to compete with television. Now the home entertainment industry has embraced 3D technology with a method for delivering the media.

Blu-ray 3D will be 1080p and backward compatible, meaning that the disks will be playable and viewable as 2D on existing equipment and current disks will play on any new equipment. The new compression codec is known as MPC, a variant of the current AVC. Importantly, the new standard will work with “any compatible 3D display,” which sounds vague, but appears to mean that there won’t be any format wars between different monitoring technologies. There are active and passive displays with high and low refresh rates, and side-by-side and line-interweaved technologies. Get ready for a whole new set of specs as different flat screen monitors debut for the home and the professional industry. 3D will work this time because the display technology will drive it directly to the audience. Even the Sony PlayStation 3 is included in the new Blu-ray 3D spec. Soon 3D will be yet another creative tool available to the creative cinematographer – instead of asking for a focus pull or a small dolly creep, perhaps that next dramatic moment will be best punctuated with a “depth pull.”

…continue reading Blu-ray 3D Standard Announced