DVB 3D-TV is a new standard that partially came out at the end of 2010 which included techniques and procedures to send a three-dimensional video signal through actual DVB transmission standards ( Cable, Terrestrial or Satellite). Currently there is a commercial requirement text for

3D TV 3D television (3DTV) is television that conveys depth perception to the viewer by employing techniques such as stereoscopic display, multi-view display, 2D-plus-depth, or any other form of 3D display. Most modern 3D television sets use an acti ...

broadcasters Broadcaster may refer to: * A presenter of any syndicated media program * A broadcasting organization, one responsible for audio and video content and/or their transmission * A sports commentator on television or radio * Broadcaster, currently kn ...

and Set-top box manufacturers, but no technical information is in there. Nowadays 3D television technology is already in its first steps regarding its standardization, now the major 3D market is in theaters and

Blu-ray Disc The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and c ...

players with stereoscopic systems, but in the near future it will be extended to diffusion, and later Free viewpoint television will come into our homes, which means the need of new coding and transmission standards.

Implantation

The implantation of first generation of DVB 3D-TV will be staggered: *Phase 1: the first standard will have forward compatibility with actual HD systems with just some

firmware In computing, firmware is a specific class of computer software that provides the low-level control for a device's specific hardware. Firmware, such as the BIOS of a personal computer, may contain basic functions of a device, and may provide h ...

actualization at HD systems set-top boxes and, of course, the need for 3D panels; however

signaling In signal processing, a signal is a function that conveys information about a phenomenon. Any quantity that can vary over space or time can be used as a signal to share messages between observers. The ''IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing'' ...

or distribution formats should not prevent future expansion to support new 3D encoding formats. This system only works with

stereoscopic Stereoscopy (also called stereoscopics, or stereo imaging) is a technique for creating or enhancing the depth perception, illusion of depth in an image by means of stereopsis for binocular vision. The word ''stereoscopy'' derives . Any stere ...

Frame sequential 3D systems. Requirements for this system, which is called Frame compatible format, are included in the commercial requirements of DVB. Some

like Sky3D or Canal+3D are already using this technology, which is largely thought for PayTV. *Phase 2: the use of new broadcasting requirements for specific 3D streams won't be compatible with actual 3D STB, but it would be service compatible with 2D STB if no specific 3D STB is available by using Scalable Video Coding and Multiview Video Coding techniques, i.e. not having to simulcast 2D and 3D and occupying only one channel by using a unique video stream with a normal 2D base stream and an adjustable 3D depth layer. This system is called service compatible and is designed for Free-to-air group of

3DTV signals

Matrix of signal formats for 3DTV:

Frame sequential

Regarding how a signal once it's decoded is sent to the

display Display may refer to: Technology * Display device, output device for presenting information, including: ** Cathode ray tube, video display that provides a quality picture, but can be very heavy and deep ** Electronic visual display, output devi ...

, current

systems use a frame-sequential 3D signal. Left and right frames are sent alternately to the

and by diverse systems like shuttered glasses or

polarized glasses Polarization (American and British English spelling differences, also polarisation) is a property applying to transverse waves that specifies the geometrical orientation of the oscillations. In a transverse wave, the direction of the oscillation ...

are then shown to each eye. This involves that the real frame frequency halves the video frame frequency.

Technical features

Frame compatible

In Phase 1 system, only frame-sequential 3D is allowed, using frame compatible (CFC) format. This is made by a spatial multiplex that combines the left and right video sequences in one HD stream which is coded with H.264 as a single image. This allows to handle video as normal HD video using typical channels and interfaces like HDMI, which is possible in this 1.4a version. Frame compatible (CFC) model is also compatible with 2D HD mode in the same channel, adding some signalling for switching from 2D to 3D. There are basically two ways to do spatial multiplex: Side by side and Top and bottom, but additional spatial multiplex formats have been proposed in order to improve picture quality by providing a better balance between the V and H resolution.

Side by side

Side by side (SbS) format just put the left and right images one next to the other in an HD image. Because of this, a horizontal decimate is required which causes halving of horizontal definition. DVB 3D-TV supports following SbS formats: :1080i @ 50 Hz Side-by-Side :720p @ 50 Hz Side-by-Side :720p @ 59.94 / 60 Hz Side-by-Side :1080p @ 23.97 / 24 Hz Side-by-Side :1080i @ 59.94 / 60 Hz Side-by-Side

Top and bottom

Top and Bottom (TaB) format put left and right images one above the other in a HD image. In this case, vertical decimate is required which causes halving of vertical definition. DVB 3D-TV supports following TaB formats: :1080p @ 23.97 / 24 Hz Top-and-Bottom :720p @ 59.94 / 60 Hz Top-and-Bottom * Not every spatial multiplex format is frame compatible with actual systems. Following formats are non frame compatible: : 720p @ 50 /60 Hz : 1080p @ 24 Hz

Graphics and text

There are basically two types of text displayed on screen that need additional broadcasting information to be displayed on a

3D display A 3D display is a display device capable of conveying depth perception, depth to the viewer. Many 3D displays are stereoscopic displays, which produce a basic 3D effect by means of stereopsis, but can cause eye strain and visual fatigue. Newer ...

: * Subtitling: (or

captions Caption may refer to: *Caption (text), explanatory text about specific published photos and articles *An element of comics where words appear in a separate box, see Glossary of comics terminology#Caption *Caption (comics convention), a small pres ...

) are text and visual elements that can be overlaid on the picture. The reconstruction of the composite image which includes the captions needs to be done in the STB. Using standards for sub-titling already available for DVB

broadcast Broadcasting is the distribution of audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum ( radio waves), in a one-to-many model. Broadcasting began ...

systems, in addition to depth information provided by the

, the STB should position correctly the

into the L and R pictures mixed with the original 3D image. The DVB 3D-TV subtitling solution will use existing DVB subtitling implementations and will be backward compatible with 2D streams. * Service guide: the STB generates multimedia content such as EPG for his service guide, which combines the use of data preloaded into the receiver with data provided by the broadcaster, in the form of service information. Depth information will be extracted of the

, displaying the graphics in the same depth.

Signaling

The main function of signaling for

frame compatible 3DTV A frame is often a structural system that supports other components of a physical construction and/or steel frame that limits the construction's extent. Frame and FRAME may also refer to: Physical objects In building construction *Framing (con ...

is to signal the presence of a 3D or 2D video stream. It must be also possible to include in the

signal information about the pixel arrangement used to decimate the master HDTV full samples/line pictures to create the anamorphic version, if 3D is available. It's interesting to signal also for 3D receivers the 3D events that are available, for which 3D availability should appear on EPG. For future service compatible (CSC)

3DTV 3D television (3DTV) is television that conveys depth perception to the viewer by employing techniques such as stereoscopic display, multi-view display, 2D-plus-depth, or any other form of 3D display. Most modern 3D television sets use an a ...

, signal that a 3D version of a 2D service or event is being simulcast, and vice versa will be needed.

3DTV broadcast in future

Multiview

Multiview video coding is a compression standard appended from H.264/MPEG-4 AVC which allows send

3D video without resolution loss due to spatial multiplex, and reducing overhead of sending 2 HD images up to 50% and in a single video stream. It is used in Blu-ray players, but at the moment it's not applicable to

because of the processing time for encoding, which uses motion compensation algorithms. Nevertheless, there have been some experiments with

MVC MVC may refer to: Science and technology * Maximum-value composite procedure, an imaging procedure * Multivariable calculus, a concept in mathematics * Multivariable control, a concept in process engineering * Mechanical vapor compression, a desal ...

3D broadcast by Fraunhofer society over 2nd generation DVB ( DVB-T2, DVB-C2 and

DVB-S2 Digital Video Broadcasting - Satellite - Second Generation (DVB-S2) is a digital television broadcast standard that has been designed as a successor for the popular DVB-S system. It was developed in 2003 by the Digital Video Broadcasting Proje ...

Free viewpoint

Total Free viewpoint television can be reached by capturing multiple views and extracting

2D+depth D, or d, is the fourth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''dee'' (pronounced ), plural ''dees''. History The ...

information from them to create a 3D model of the scene. Currently this system is being investigated, but the coding complexity and great bandwidth requirements make current broadcasting applications using Multiview Video Coding impractical, so a totally new compression scheme and capture techniques need to be investigated.

References

* DVB Commercial requirements for

broadcasting: available a

* DVB 3D-TV seminar presentation by David Wood: available a

{{Reflist

External links

Stereo 3D Broadcast with MVC, Heinrich Hertz Insitiute (Fraunhofer society)

DVB 3D-TV workshop page

Information and news about 3DTV

Freeview 3D project for Japan 2022 World Cup

The Biggest 3D Video's Library
Digital Video Broadcasting 3D imaging Digital broadcasting Digital television Television technology