Avatar now has a place in movie history as a film that has forever changed public consciousness of a technology. In this case, the technology is 3D. Like it or not, 3D is coming home, and James Cameron's blockbuster has made a majority of viewers aware of that.


The news came in a Retrovo Pulse survey of 1250+ randomly selected people in December and January. Before Avatar hit theaters, 39 percent of them were aware they'd soon have 3D at home (if they wanted it). After the movie became a sensation, that number rose to 60 percent.

However, don't jump to the conclusion that a majority of consumers are ready to spring for 3D. While the survey did record a jump in willingness to buy, from 27 to 32 percent, that still leaves two-thirds of consumers 3D-wary.

Courtesy: hometheatermag.com

HDMI Licensing, LLC, the agent responsible for licensing the High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) specification, today announced the release of HDMI Specification Version 1.4a featuring enhancements for 3D applications including the addition of mandatory 3D formats for broadcast content as well as the addition of the 3D format referred to as Top-and-Bottom. The complete HDMI Specification Version 1.4a, along with the 1.4a version of the Compliance Test Specification (CTS), is available to Adopters on the HDMI Adopter Extranet.

An extraction of the 3D portion of Specification Version 1.4a is available for public download on the HDMI Web site. The purpose of the extraction document is to provide public access to the 3D portion of the HDMI Specification for those companies and organizations that are not HDMI Adopters but require access to this portion of the Specification.

“We published these latest enhancements to support the market need for broadcast 3D content. When we launched 1.4 in June of 2009, we deferred the selection of mandatory 3D format(s) for broadcast content until the market direction was more clearly defined. The market has spoken and the HDMI Consortium has listened and responded to accommodate those market needs.”

- Steve Venuti, president of HDMI Licensing, LLC.

The latest HDMI Specification adds key enhancements to support the market requirements for bringing broadcast 3D content into the home:

1. The addition of Top-and-Bottom to the Specification.

2. The addition of two mandatory formats for broadcast content:

Side-by-Side Horizontal
Top-and-Bottom
With the addition of these two mandatory formats, the HDMI Specification Version 1.4a provides a level of interoperability for devices designed to deliver 3D content over the HDMI connection. The mandatory 3D formats are:

3D Mandatory Formats

For movie content:
Frame Packing
1080p @ 23.98/24Hz
For game content:
Frame Packing
720p @ 50 or 59.94/60Hz
For broadcast content:
Side-by-Side Horizontal
1080i @ 50 or 59.94/60Hz
Top-and-Bottom
720p @ 50 or 59.94/60Hz
1080p @ 23.97/24Hz
Implementing the mandatory formats of the HDMI Specification facilitates interoperability among devices, allowing devices to speak a common 3D language when transmitting and receiving 3D content. The mandatory requirements for devices implementing 3D formats are:

Displays – must support all mandatory formats.
Sources – must support at least one mandatory format.
Repeaters - must be able to pass through all mandatory formats.
HDMI Adopters will have 90 days from the publication of the Specification Version 1.4a to build and sell products that are compliant with 1.4a as well as pass the CTS Version 1.4a. This also applies to legacy set-top boxes that may have upgraded to use Specification Version 1.4 signaling.

For more information about the HDMI specification please visit http://www.hdmi.org.

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