THE CHANNEL
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MEDIA MARKETS
MIT Labs shows the way
for 'glasses-free' 3DTV
As reported on MIT news, the
MIT Media Lab’s Camera Culture
group has come up with a new
approach to multiple-perspective,
glasses-free 3D that could prove
much more practical than
holography in the short term.
The Media Lab system,
dubbed a Tensor Display, uses
several layers of liquid-crystal
displays (LCDs), the technology
currently found in most flat-
panel TVs. To produce a
convincing 3D illusion, the LCDs
would need to refresh at a rate of
about 360 times a second, or 360
hertz. Such displays may not be
far off: LCD TVs that boast 240-
hertz refresh rates have already
appeared on the market.
The researchers’ key insight
was that, while some aspects of
a scene change with the viewing
angle, some do not. The pattern-
calculating algorithms exploit
this natural redundancy,
reducing the amount of
information that needs to be sent
to the LCD screens and thus
improving the resolution of the
final image.
At this summer's Siggraph
conference, the Media Lab
researchers will demonstrate a
prototype Tensor Display that
uses three LCD panels. They’ve
also developed another prototype
that uses two panels with a sheet
of lenses in between that refract
light left and right. With the
three-panel version, the 3D
illusion is consistent within a
viewing angle of 20 degrees, but
with the refractive-lens version,
the viewing angle expands to 50
degrees.
Industry insiders think the
concept is definitely suitable for
commercial applications – each
component is commonplace and it
sounds easy to manufacture - so
this ought to be something that a
consumer-electronics company
would licence.
Commercial debut for MyGlobeTV
MyGlobeTV, GlobeCast's new
IPTV platform for international
and thematic content launched
in July with 16 premium
Romanian-language channels to
US viewers.
This full end-to-end solution
provides broadcasters with not
only the technical solution for
reaching homes in the Americas,
but also marketing and
demographics research and
support, as well as other
services including customer
support and billing. GlobeCast is
in discussions with
broadcasters from around the
world to expand the service to
include content from many
different genres.
At present, the solution uses
a set-top box connected to the
viewer's existing broadband
connection. By the end of 2012
GlobeCast expects to launch the
application version of this
IN BRIEF
SMART TV MOVE
The partnership of Foxtel
and Samsung Electronics
Australia has launched
Foxtel on Internet TV which
allows owners of compatible
Samsung Smart TVs to
watch up to 30 live streaming
Foxtel channels without the
need for a lock-in contract
or a Foxtel STB installation.
Samsung Smart TV apps are
accessed over ½m times
each month showing the
increasing demand from
Australian consumers.
Foxtel's 'Get Started'
package includes FOX8,
MTV, Nickelodeon, Channel
[V], LifeStyle YOU, Discovery
Channel, NatGeo Channel,
TV1, SKY NEWS, FOX Sports
News and Cartoon Network.
STN OPTS FOR
OASYS
Slovenian playout centre STN,
one of the most innovative
playout providers in the
industry, has added three
OASYS Automated Playout
channels to the six HD
channels installed in 2011.
All OASYS systems work
alongside STN’s iTX systems
in a complementary way,
with both systems built
around Isilon IQ X-Series
scalable nodes enabling STN
to seamlessly scale capacity
from a few terabytes to
multiple petabytes and over
45 gigabytes per second
(GBps) of throughput. STN's
MD Tomaz Lovsin says the
handling of live events –
particularly the graphics
challenges – is astonishing.
EURONEWS FOR
CARIBBEAN
euronews has signed deals
with new Haitian digital plat-
form NUtv and cable operator
St Maarten Cable TV. In Haiti,
euronews joins the new DTH
platform with its French
programming. Multimedia
company NUtv launched in
July to fill the vacuum in TV
services in the country with
a bouquet of 100+ channels.
St Maarten Cable TV offers
the English edition of
euronews to subscribers of
the Digital TV Total bundle.
product, allowing viewers to
access the service from any
Internet-enabled device such as
smartphone, tablets, or PC.
Emma Brackett, VP of
Consumer Video Products &
Services at GlobeCast, says
with MyGlobeTV broadcasters
can develop new revenue
streams and expand their
viewer base by reaching markets
not easily accessed via DTH
satellite.
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ISSUE 2 2012
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THE CHANNEL
ITN Source
regal app
ITN Source, the content licensing
division of ITN, has partnered with
mobile agency AlwaysOnMessage
to showcase archive video
footage in mobile phone apps.
The “Diamond Jubilee Tour”
iPhone app, designed to
celebrate 60 years of the Queen’s
reign, takes users on a GPS-
enabled walking tour of 15 of
London’s most important Royal
locations. At each point, users
are able to watch historic videos
of iconic moments from ITN
Source’s exclusive video archive.
For those abroad the videos are
available without completing
the tour.
The app is now being further
developed for more platforms
and multiple languages to
become a comprehensive Royal
Tour app of London, and ITN
Source is investigating other
ideas of how its footage can be
embedded into themed or event-
specific apps.
MD Andy Williams says he is
excited about the opportunities
which include other emerging
new media platforms such as
video-enhanced e-books.
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