Free viewpoint, no glasses 3D—your future TV

According to a panel of experts at the International Solid State Circuits Conference (ISSCC), TVs are in for something big in the future. TVs will be smarter, more intuitive and will feature even more technically logical advanced displays. Foremost among these technologies are the glasses-less 3D technology and free viewpoint TV (FTV)—a visual media that lets users view a 3D scene by freely changing the viewpoint, the experts stated.

"Over the last few years, there have been big changes in mobile phones and communication devices. I think similar changes will happen in television, as well," noted David Min, VP of LG Electronics Inc.'s software center. "However, I think the changes that will happen in TV will be somewhat different from what has happened in mobile phones."

Min predicted that future TVs would incorporate more "smart" functionality, more connectivity, better quality displays and virtual reality capability. "Being smart is about providing some connectivity," Min added. "In the old days, the TV was nothing but a medium. But with connectivity, the TV is getting more intelligent."

Several panelists talked about the need for standardization in TV platforms. Min said consumers would decide whether platforms such as Google TV would proliferate.

Yuzo Hirayama, chief research scientist at Toshiba Corp.'s multimedia laboratory, said the near future of 3D TV involves glasses-less technology. Toshiba has been selling since 2010 20 and 12in 3D TVs in Japan that do not require glasses, Hirayama said, and recently demonstrated the first "large sized" glasses-less 3D screen, with a diagonal measure of 55in, he continued.

Hirayama showed data from DisplaySearch that forecasted that the market for 3D TVs would grow from below 25 million units and under $3 billion last year to more than 200 million units and nearly $20 billion in 2018.

Masayuki Tanimoto, a professor from Nagoya University, presented information on the latest developments in free-viewpoint TV that uses dozens of cameras to capture 3D images that users can navigate through any viewpoint to as though they were there. While the technology is still many years away from commercial availability, Tanimoto told the audience that part of Japan's bid for hosting the 2022 FIFA World Cup included making FTV of all of the soccer games available. Unfortunately, Japan's bid was not accepted.

- Dylan McGrath
??EE Times