Several major display vendors, along with X6D (makers of XPAND 3D) have announced their intention to collaborate on 3D active glasses technology.
The plan is called the “Full HD 3D Glasses Initiative”. Under it, the manufacturers intend to work together on the development and licensing of RF system 3D active glasses technology, including RF system protocols between consumer 3D active glasses and 3D displays such as computers, televisions, projectors and 3D theatres with XPAND active shutter glasses.
According to the release, the standardisation will also include multiple types of infrared (IR) system protocols between 3D active glasses and 3D displays, ranging from the protocols jointly developed by Panasonic and XPAND 3D*, 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 backwards compatible with 2011 models of active 3D TVs.
The protocols developed by Panasonic and XPAND 3D, and announced in March of 2011 are also supported by Mitsubishi Electric, SIM2 Multimedia and ViewSonic, all of whom have interests in the commercial as well as the residential space.
David Aleksandersen, academy training programme manager at projectiondesign says: "Interoperability between manufacturers has been one of the major obstacles/hurdles for the success of 3D at home. Having three major players in the field forming an alliance is extremely important and it will make life simpler for the 3D consumers. You will have the debate whether or not the choice of Active Stereo Shutter glasses is the best technology choice, but I think it was a great move to shift focus away from technology allowing all companies to focus on creating a better 3D experience for the users."