The three-dimensional vision of appearance – nothing new yet – has regained the interest of users, has clear commercial potential and is, thanks to advances in software and in imaging and presentation equipment with that characteristic, a movement large enough for the International Telecommunication Union to devote resources to it. study it and make development recommendations.
Last month, the work carried out by the United Nations entity in order to establish a roadmap for the introduction of television with a 3D appearance was known. The ITU Study Group envisions systems "so intelligent that they are able to faithfully reproduce the way our eyes and brains perceive the visual world."
According to that report, 3D TV would be implemented in three successive generations: The first, 'stereoscopic flat television', consisting of TV sets that present two simultaneous points of view. Using glasses similar to those used to watch the cinema in 3D, viewers will be able to appreciate depth in the image, although the point of view will be the same when they move their heads (in real life our point of view would change when moving their heads).
"The second generation," the report says, "will offer multiple simultaneous points of view, and the perspective will change with the movement of the head, thus achieving an experience that better reproduces the vision in real life. The third generation will be characterized by systems that will record the amplitude, frequency and phase of light waves, reproducing almost perfectly the natural visual environment of the human being. Technically, these kinds of highly advanced systems will be available in about 15 or 20 years."
The statement added that in the words of Valery Timofeev, Director of ITU's Radiocommunication Bureau, the study "sets out a clearly defined framework for the development of new types of systems that will completely change the way we experience broadcast and multimedia content. It describes an exciting vision that will not only change the look of the show, but also open the door to a whole range of amazing new possibilities in sectors ranging from education and healthcare to traffic management." Christoph Dosch, Chair of the Study Committee, said: "This is an important step forward on the road to GLOBALLY Agreed ITU Recommendations on 3D TV. I am confident that we will make further progress during our next meeting in April 2010."
The new wave of three-dimensional appearance is growing faster than imaginable: ESPN and Discovery have already announced channels that they will broadcast in 3D starting this year, starting with the opening match of the world football championship on June 11, Mexico-South Africa. Hopefully it's a good game. Which is the important thing.
