DDMC

Izon Technologies delivered our long anticipated 3D TV that requires no glasses.  We had been waiting for a “short throw” version which is still in development so we opted to get their standard model. This model is designed for digital signage applications so you need to be about 10 feet away for the best effect.

The overall reaction was mind blowing. I think some people didn’t realize what this was at first – how can you see 3D images with no glasses? There were some that mentioned they still felt queasy and uncomfortable with viewing 3D images but that is something we are really looking to research further. Without glasses restricting your vision, it should be more natural and appear like a simple 2D image to those that can’t view 3D due to some challenges with their eyes.

The Duke Digital Initiative plans to loan the TV and camera to any interested faculty for teaching or research. We’d also like stereo content to add to our catalog for demonstration purposes. The television will be at our new production offices and studio at Telcom so we’d be happy to schedule a viewing. Contact DDI at ddi-requests at duke.edu for more information or to see for yourself.

With the incredible demonstration of glasses free 3D we saw last week from Izon TV, we reached out to our go to technology innovator, Dr. Len White from Duke Institute Of Brain Science in order to create some new content for further testing when we get the monitor back in January. This was our first lab shoot with the SONY HDR-TD30V Camcorder (whose price has now dropped to $999!) We had never tested the close up ability of the camera before and given the fixed convergence of the camcorder, we thought this would be an interesting test.

We were joined by the amazing technology team at the Duke School of Medicine who helped us connect the HDMI output of the camera to the video screen behind us. This provided Dr. White a confidence monitor as well as helped us set lighting. We were all really impressed with the quality HD output of the camera. The camera is smart enough to know that you’ve connected at 2D monitor so it only outputs a 2D image. We also found out that the camera’s HDMI output can be set to either output the SONY interlaced format or standard side-by-side output. This may create an interesting use case for live, overflow monitoring in 3D.

Slamming door sounds not withstanding (it is finals time at SOM), Dr. White got some very nice HD 2D footage to work with. Preliminary viewing on our existing passive LG 3D display were quite impressive. One issue that we assumed we’d have to deal with is the close up work. If you think about it, if you stick your nose up against something close, your eyes cross. The 3D camera’s “eyes” are at a fixed distance so it doesn’t like being close to an object. We should be able to adjust the convergence in Final Cut X using the Dashwood Stereo 3D Toolbox LE ($99). Final Cut X appears to be reading the SONY interlaced footage but it will take more work to see how it translates (as compared to SONY Vegas). This is a major focus of our testing and we’ll write more about it once we’ve done some more research. The Duke Digital Initiative is also working on setting up a 3D content channel on YouTube that will allow you to view some of this content on your own 3D displays.

Wow.

If that’s all I wrote on this update, that would pretty much sum it up. The 50″ Glasses Free 3D TV from Izon TV is a true breakthrough in immersive viewing technology.  The system uses the lenticular lens and 4k panel as others in the field, but the “magic” is in the software. Unlike previous televisions we’ve tested, there was no proprietary software required to re-encode the content, no converter boxes to run through. We were able to view my standard 3D side-by-side content from my USB drive (encoded HD MP4 file), HDMI out of a 3D BluRay player as well as a first I’ve seen, live content via HDMI out of our Sony HDR-TD30V HD 3D Camcorder (which has now dropped to $1200).  We also saw some 4k digital signage content that could be useful for some of the commercial venues around campus.  We also discussed other use cases including viewing medical content or immersive video conferencing (since it handles live 3D content)

It all looked fantastic. Looking at the screen bezel, the image looked inset. Pointing at the image in front of the screen made it look as if you were inside the screen.

The lenticular we saw was optimized for around 9′ of distance however they said they had the ability to create other lenticulars for other distances. The viewing angles were great. You lost the 3D effect at about 25° but it basically just faded into 2D. We had one person comment that it was far more comfortable for them to watch than 3D with glasses while another commented it was about the same. One thing about not having glasses on is that it allows you to look around the room to “rest” your eyes from the 3D more easily. If you are wearing glasses, you tend to keep focused on the screen for longer stretches of time.

Izon is a content company having contracted with many major studios to do 2D to 3D conversion. They do offer services to help enhance 3D content, but I have to say, that our point and shoot content looked pretty spectacular on their screen.

We’re hoping to have a unit for extended testing after the first of the year. If you are interested in reviewing for use in your school or department, please email oit-mt-info@duke.edu.

We’ve been talking about glasses free 3D televisions for the last few years (NAB 2014 Report) and have seen good advances in phones and viewfinders for 3D cameras. I was excited to hear at this year’s NAB that the monitor that had been shown as a prototype was finally in production.

Dimenco provided us with a display in time to bring to the Friday Visualization Forum and the CIT Showcase.  The overall response to the monitor was mixed. Most people were impressed with the advancements in the technology, but unfortunately we received a prototype version that took much work to make function and was ultimately unable to display 4k resolution content.

The monitor itself is extremely heavy. We’ve been spoiled with the light weight LED displays. the 50″ monitor weighs almost 100 pounds.  Although it was a 4k panel, we could not get 4k content to work. Using HD content lowered the overall resolution and produced noticeable bands in the image that were quite distracting.

The monitor can’t display live content, but requires encoded content. We used standard side-by side content. Dimenco shows 4k content using an image and a depth map as shown below.

I still believe glasses free 3D will have a place in the classroom as it provides a more immersive experience while not distracting from other classroom activities. We’re excited to continue to keep both eyes on this sector of technology.

Mark McGill has brought his Oculus Rift in for demos over the last few weeks. I was impressed with this form of interactivity but also questioned if this would ever become “main stream” or at least more widely accepted given the physical constraints of the system. As we start to really look at glasses free 3D technologies, it will be interesting to see how these binding physical interfaces develop. Article courtesy of Christine Vucinich. http://www.dailydot.com/technology/marriott-transporter-oculus-rift/