Royal Philips, Sharp, Toshiba and TCL are the latest electronics giants to get behind a new standard for wireless active-shutter, full HD 3-D glasses technology for 3-D television sets and movie theaters. Panasonic, Samsung, Sony and X6D Limited (XPAND 3D) are all supporting the new standard.
LG and its Vizio brand is the only major manufacturer not on board with universal active shutter glasses, which industry reports say account for 70 percent of all 3-D glasses sales.
The four companies expressed support for the initiative announced earlier this month for which Panasonic, Samsung, Sony and XPAND agreed to work together on the development and licensing of Bluetooth-enabled, radio frequency (RF) 3-D active-shutter glasses technology.
This includes RF protocols between consumer 3-D active shutter glasses and 3-D displays such as televisions, personal computers, projectors and 3-D theaters using XPAND active shutter glasses. The standardization will also include several types of infrared (IR) system protocols between 3-D active shutter glasses and 3-D displays, ranging from the protocols jointly developed by Panasonic and XPAND 3D to the proprietary protocols of Samsung and Sony.
Later this month, a license program for the 3-D glasses initiative is scheduled to begin. Manufacturers of 3-D equipment can receive a license to begin developing and manufacturing products employing the Initiative’s technology. Later in the year, the Full HD 3-D Glasses Initiative plans to begin officially certifying products manufactured under the license.
The protocols jointly developed by Panasonic and XPAND were first announced in March and are supported by eight participating companies: Changhong Electric Co., Ltd.; FUNAI Electric Co., Ltd.; Hisense Electric Co., Ltd.; Hitachi Consumer Electronics Co., Ltd.; Mitsubishi Electric Corp.; Seiko Epson Corp.; SIM2 Multimedia and ViewSonic Corp.