Philips' Rob de Vogel on 3D VOD

At the IBC show in Amsterdam last month, Philips and eventIS demonstrated a 3D VOD system that employs eventIS's metadata management system and Philips' WOWvx 3D displays (note: the latter do not require use of special glasses). According to Philips, the collaboration with eventIS proves that a new 3D video format, dubbed 2D-plus-depth and recently adopted as a non-mandatory extension of MPEG, can easily be integrated into existing media distribution and management systems, such as VOD via cable, satellite, Internet or terrestrial broadcasting. Rob de Vogel, senior director of business creation at Philips, recently spoke to [itvt]'s Tracy Swedlow about the company's IBC demo, about the technology that underlies the Philips/eventIS prototype 3D VOD system, about why he believes 3D television will become a mass-market phenomenon, and more.

[itvt]: Philips recently teamed with eventIS to demo 3D VOD at the IBC show, correct?

De Vogel: Yes. The demo received a very positive response. For much of the audience, our 3D display technology was probably a completely new experience. So far, we've demonstrated this display technology--which is branded WOWvx-- mostly at more consumer electronics-oriented events. For example, the week before, we demo'd it at the IFA, which is the European equivalent of the Consumer Electronics Show. We've demo'd it at CES a few times, and we've also demo'd it a few times at more signage-oriented conferences and exhibitions.

So this was the first time that we had the chance to demo it at a broadcaster- oriented show. We decided to do that because we're now entering a phase where, in addition to having a display-technology story to tell, we've got a great story to tell to the broadcaster/television community--not just because of the kinds of 3D solutions we presented at the show, but also because of new tools we're developing for the generation of 3D content. Those tools are going to be of interest to the types of people who attend IBC, because around half the community there is involved in content creation. In addition, broadcast television networks are not only a stepping stone into the home of the end-consumer, but also a delivery platform to our business-to-business customers.

[itvt]: Now the 3D VOD solution you demo'd at IBC was developed in partnership with eventIS, correct?

De Vogel: Yes. eventIS is a Dutch company that's been very successful offering video-on-demand solutions for cable operators and telcos. They provide the basic hardware and software platform for VOD services. They're also very active in supplying all kinds of MPEG-related tools--so in enabling the kinds of metadata that are required for the digital transmission of video over MPEG networks. So the demo consisted of our displays working together with eventIS's metadata-management system, which is used by a number of European operators to support VOD services. And the purpose of the demo was to show that we can deliver our 3D content format on-demand over MPEG-compliant networks.

[itvt]: Was the 3D content delivered to a set-top box?

De Vogel: No. For the purposes of the demo, a PC was used. However, the principle is the same. Basically, eventIS's solution managed the interaction between an on-demand library of 3D videos and the viewer. The demo presented attendees with an interactive application on our display, which they could then use to select a piece of on-demand 3D video content. Their requests were sent to an eventIS server, which downloaded the requested files to a PC, and the PC then played out those files to our display. Our display then rendered the content, so that people looking at it would see it in 3D.

[itvt]: Could you tell us more about your 3D platform? It doesn't require the viewer to wear stereoscopic glasses, correct?

De Vogel: Yes. It's an autostereoscopic display--i.e. one that allows you to see depth without glasses. It's based on a series of technologies developed by Philips over the past 10 years.

How it works is that we start with a full-HD LCD panel. We apply two different technologies on top of that. At the backend there's a lot of signal processing; and at the frontend there's a lens system, consisting of a lot of micro-lenses that we place very carefully over the pixels or the sub-pixels in the LCD panel.

Then we send content to the display in a format we call "2D-Plus-Depth." So we do not send stereo-anything to the display: we send a 2D image and the associated depth information. The display then calculates nine different perspectives on the 2D image, and, by making use of the light-diffraction characteristics of the micro-lenses, we can make it possible that a person standing in front of the display, at a distance between three and nine meters and within an angle of around 120 degrees, receives different images in their left eye and their right eye--which is the basis of perceiving 3D. So, in other words, the lenses serve as a kind of projection mechanism to make sure that a person standing in front of the display gets slightly different images in each eye. And, if it's all done right, the brain then constructs a realistic 3D representation out of those two images.

[itvt]: And this display technology supports the playback of 3D movies...

De Vogel: Yes, we can take movies and video clips that are shot with stereo cameras, and convert them to the 2D-Plus-Depth format that our display can handle. We've also developed tools that allow an editor in post-production to add depth information to a 2D image or video, so that our display can take that depth information, add it to the 2D image or video, and thus render a 3D version of that image or video. So the kinds of content our display can render in 3D are stereo video, 2D images or video, and 3D computer graphics and animations.

[itvt]: Are you working with content companies to generate programming for your displays?

De Vogel: We're definitely working with companies to develop content for the displays. Remember, this isn't a prototype; it's a real product. We're selling our displays around the world--from China to the US, from Norway to South Africa. At the moment at least, we're not selling them to end-consumers, but to companies that operate advertising networks in shopping malls, airports, restaurants, hotels and so forth. And we've been providing tools to content-creation companies that allow them to create clips and movies for the displays.

[itvt]: Could you tell us a little about the 3D tools you're offering?

De Vogel: Yes. Content is key for the success of 3D, so, in order to facilitate the creation of content, we have developed a number of tools in the area of computer graphics--for example, a plug-in for 3D Studio Max; as well as a composition tool to "compose" 3D clips from a combination of 2D video and 2D/3D graphics; and a dedicated 3D video solution for the content industry, the BlueBox. The BlueBox allows for the off-line conversion of video clips either from single 2D to 3D or from stereo to 3D.

[itvt]: Now, is your partnership with eventIS on 3D VOD exclusive, or are you working with other server companies on this?

De Vogel: No, we aren't working on an exclusive basis. eventIS just happens to be the first company that picked up on this idea and that was willing to do the work to create a demo of it. What the demo really shows is the power of standardization in the digital video delivery space. Any company that is capable of providing the infrastructure for MPEG can work with our displays to do this. Over the past two years we've been working very actively to get our 2D-Plus-Depth standard accepted by MPEG, and we've now succeeded in doing so: in March of this year, it was accepted as a non-mandatory extension of MPEG.

[itvt]: Do you feel there could ever be much of a demand for 3D VOD? You said that you can convert any movie that's shot in 3D into the 2D-Plus-Depth format, so that it can be delivered via MPEG and be shown on your displays. But how many movies are currently being shot in 3D?

De Vogel: Well, off the top of my head, let's see: there's a 3D version of "Journey to the Center of the Earth" that's currently in production. James Cameron is shooting his next movie, "Avatar," in 3D. Yesterday, I read that Steven Spielberg just announced that he plans to produce films in 3D. There have actually been a lot of public announcements recently from major Hollywood directors that they are going to be making movies in stereo. So the number of movies being shot in 3D will grow rapidly.

[itvt]: Now there are restrictions on where you can view one of your displays from in order to get the proper 3D effect, correct?

De Vogel: Well, as I mentioned, the starting point for our displays is standard HD LCD technology: now, we at Philips 3D Solutions don't develop the core technology that enables LCD panels, we're simply riding the various developments that have been taking place in the LCD industry--in terms of higher quality, lower prices, multiple different sizes of displays, and so forth. The current design of the 3D display has a viewing angle of 120 degrees, but in future will match viewing angles of standard LCD panels.

[itvt]: Presumably your displays could support 3D interactive TV applications, correct?

De Vogel: Absolutely. We have spent an enormous amount of effort, in order to make sure that nothing of the 2D world, so to speak, is lost in our 3D environment: so things like brightness, the ability to distribute content over digital television networks (which, of course, was the goal of our demo at IBC), and, of course, interactivity. We've actually already demo'd that we can support interactivity, by running 3D computer games on our displays. We can add a 3D viewing experience to games without limiting other possibilities that consumers have in terms of interactivity or anything else.

[itvt]: Are there size limitations on your 3D technology? For example, could you have one of your displays in Times Square?

De Vogel: Well, for the time being, we're limited to high-resolution displays. Those are the kinds of displays that are optimal for our technology. The displays you see in Times Square and places like that have very low resolution--a very coarse picture. We may at some point apply this technology to outdoor displays, but outdoor display technology is currently still far away from being at a level of resolution such that making a display 3D would be worthwhile.

[itvt]: What about in the other direction? Could you apply your technology to the handheld-device market--so to products like the iPhone?

De Vogel: We've demonstrated this technology on displays as small as two inches. At the moment, though, we're selling the displays in three sizes: a 20-inch for point-of-sale applications and arcade videogames; a 42-inch for digital signage applications; and a 132-inch multiscreen 3D "vidiwall" that we call the WOWzone. But, provided there is sufficient resolution in the original LCD display to make viewing it in 3D an enjoyable experience, our technology doesn't limit us to any size of display.

[itvt]: You mentioned earlier that you've been working on this technology for the past 10 years or so. Why did it take so long for it to become commercially available?

De Vogel: Well, we're riding the wave of the LCD panel space in general. As I mentioned, at the core of our display is a full-HD LCD panel, and there have been huge developments over the past couple of years in the LCD industry. All of these developments have led to a dramatic reduction in the price of these panels, as well as higher quality and better reliability. We think we're now at a stage where LCD display technology is mature enough to allow us to bring 3D displays to market with high quality and an acceptable price point.

[itvt]: 3D technology, of course, has been around since the 1950's. Why do you think that 3D television has a chance today of becoming a mass-market phenomenon?

De Vogel: Well, the fact that we can now do 3D without glasses is obviously a significant factor: our consumer tests indicated that while people are perhaps willing to put on 3D glasses in theme parks and movie theaters, they're not going to do that in the livingroom. And the fact that we're initially targeting our displays at public places like shopping malls, where people will see them, and realize that they can view 3D video without wearing special glasses, seems certainly likely to drive interest in this technology.

And moreover, we simply feel that, if the technology makes for a natural and smooth viewing experience, people are going to want 3D television. Why wouldn't they? One of Philips' marketing slogans is "Simplicity is seeing the world as it really is." If people, in their real lives, are constantly seeing a 3D world, why wouldn't they also want to see that on their television? So this is something we're absolutely certain of: at some point in time three-dimensionality will be a standard characteristic of the television set in your livingroom.

[itvt]: What's the status on Philips and eventIS trialing 3D VOD with pay-TV operators?

De Vogel: At the IBC, Philips and eventIS demonstrated the VOD service with 3D content running over a standard network. We are definitely seeing increased interest from the industry in evaluating 3D. In fact, earlier this year telecom providers, Deutsche Telekom and Orange, both trialed 3D video capabilities over their broadband networks, using Philips WOWvx 3D displays.

URL: Philips

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