The Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) has announced the finalization and release of the Blu-ray 3DTM specification. The specification will enable the home-entertainment industry to release 3D on Blu-ray Disc.
BDA press releases state that the Blu-ray 3DTM spec insures that a high-quality Blu-ray picture will be delivered to any compatible 3D display, whether LCD, plasma, or other technology. “From a technological perspective, it is simply the best available platform for bringing 3D into the home,” stated Benn Carr, chairman of the BDA 3D Task Force. The discs produced for the system will have full 1080p resolution. The specification will also allow PS3 game consoles to play back Blu-ray 3D content in 3D.
According to BDA, the Blu-ray 3D specification calls for encoding 3D video using the Multiview Video Coding (MVC) codec, an extension to the ITU-T H.264 Advanced Video Coding (AVC) codec currently supported by all Blu-ray Disc players. MPEG4-MVC compresses both left and right eye views with a typical 50% overhead compared to equivalent 2D content, and can provide full 1080p resolution and backward compatibility with current 2D Blu-ray Disc players. The specification also incorporates enhanced graphic features for 3D. These features will enable navigation using 3D graphic menus and will display 3D subtitles positioned in 3D video.