Panasonic brings 3D theater to BroadcastAsia

Philip Wong | Jun 16, 2009

Raw projection through the naked eye.
(Credit: Philip Wong/CNET Asia)

Panasonic is giving BroadcastAsia 2009 visitors a treat with an onsite demonstration of its 3D theater. Costing around US$61,000 to install, the setup is based primarily on the company’s professional P2HD video cameras and ultra-high-resolution DLP projectors. In a nutshell, the raw 3D footages are captured on two side-by-side shooters and played back using a pair of beamers equipped with special polarizer filters. The projections are then overlaid on a silver screen. This produces bright, albeit fuzzy, moving pictures which are reconstructed into realistic floating images through a pair of dedicated 3D glasses.

A similar system has already been deployed in Bangkok. The 4D adventure theater in Dream World brings the immersive experience one step further by integrating real special effects such as smoke and lighting as part of the theme park’s screenings. As to whether such 3D technology will be available for the living room in the future is uncertain, as a Panasonic spokesperson cited cost considerations, among other hurdles. That said, we were informed that this is an important space that many manufacturers are actively pursuing.

Note: The photos below do not reflect the actual 3D effect because the images have to be viewed from both sides of the 3D glasses.

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