Panasonic, Samsung, Sony, XPAND join forces on 3-D glasses initiative

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Panasonic Corp, Samsung Electronics Co, Sony Corp and X6D Limited (XPAND 3-D) will collaborate on the development of a new technology standard for consumer 3-D active glasses, under the name, “Full HD 3-D Glasses Initiative.”

With this new agreement, the companies intend to work together on the development and licensing of radio frequency (RF) system 3-D active glasses technology, including RF system protocols between consumer 3-D active glasses and 3-D displays such as televisions, personal computers, projectors and 3-D theaters with XPAND active shutter glasses.

The standardization will also include multiple types of infrared (IR) system protocols between 3-D active glasses and 3-D displays, ranging from the protocols jointly developed by Panasonic and XPAND 3-D, to the proprietary protocols of Samsung and Sony, respectively.

Universal glasses with the new IR/RF protocols will be made available in 2012, and are targeted to be backward compatible with 2011 3-D active TVs.

Through this initiative, the four companies aim to widely introduce universal active 3-D glasses to the market. The announcement marks a unique collaboration of the world’s leading 3-D TV manufacturers and 3-D technology providers for the benefit of consumers. Glasses utilizing 3-D active technology benefits consumers in that they enable Full HD 3-D picture quality to be displayed to each eye, as well as a greater freedom of movement thanks to Bluetooth® technology.

“Panasonic has been working to standardize 3-D glasses technologies, and in March, we announced a joint licensing of IR system protocols with XPAND, backed by several participant companies. We are very pleased that today’s latest collaboration will incorporate our previous concept into these new standardization efforts,” said Masayuki Kozuka, general manager of Media & Content Alliance Office, Corporate R&D Division, Panasonic. “We hope the expanded collaboration on this 3-D standardization initiative will make a significant contribution toward accelerating the growth of 3-D-related products.”