The Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) releases the Blu-ray 3D, a long-awaited standard for full 1080p viewing of 3D movies on home TVs.

The first Blu-ray machines for 3D will be shown at CES in Las Vegas in January but shipped later in 2010. 3D movies (yes, Avatar!) will be play on these Blu-ray 3D machines (they can also play regular 2D disks). Current Blu-ray players can't handle the new 3D format, but maybe adapters will become available.

The spec is display agnostic, able to deliver the 3D image to any compatible 3D display, whether LCD, Plasma or other technology (and regardless of what 3D technology the display uses to deliver the image). The new spec allows PS3 game consoles to play back Blu-ray 3D content in 3D.

Blu-ray 3D calls for encoding 3D video using the Multiview Video Coding (MVC) codec, an extension to the ITU-T H.264 Advanced Video Coding (AVC) codec currently supported by all Blu-ray Disc players. MPEG4-MVC compresses both left and right eye views with a typical 50% overhead compared to equivalent 2D content.

Go Blu-ray 3D

AVATAR: It's the most expensive production Fox Films has ever made.

Director James Cameron probably spent more than $300 million, the cost of the last "most expensive film ever made," Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End.

Fox teamed up with Cameron for Titanic (1997) which at the time cost a record- breaking $200 million but earned more than $1.8 billion worldwide.

Now Fox is investing heavily to promote Cameron's Avatar as a technically- advanced epic that's a game-changer for the movie industry, heralding a new era of 3D-movies.

And if movies move en masse to 3D, home theatre will surely follow.

Cameron has had this film in his mind for more than a decade, waiting for technology to catch up with his vision. Cameron has even created a new film camera that combines computer-generated imagery with live action so he could simultaenously watch the virtual world as he shot the live scenes.

And another innovation from Cameron: he substantially reduced the size of 3D cameras used.

Fox says more and more live-action films will be done in 3D as the technology expands further.

Fox already credits Avatar for encouraging theatre owners to make the change over both to digital and to 3D capability. They predict audiences will soon come to expect 3D movies and 3D will become the most dominant film form.

"We experience the world in 3D, why should we experience film any different?" Cameron is quoted as saying.

This week The Empire Leicester Square in London showed the world premiere of the James Cameron movie Avatar, using the Dolby 3D solution for large screens.

"Empire Leicester Square boasts one of the largest screens in the UK, which is why it regularly plays host to world premieres," says Julian Pinn, Business Development Manager, Production Services Group, Dolby Laboratories. "…Dolby Production Services worked with Barco, Empire, and Twentieth Century Fox to ensure the best combination of brightness, image sharpness, and color accuracy to display this spectacular new movie as director James Cameron intended."

Go Watch the movie trailer, Avatar

Dolby is talking with content providers about encoding its digital 3D technology into Blu-ray movies. Dolby is already a player in digital 3D cinema, now used on more than 400 screens in 24 countries.

Dolby's home 3D technology is designed so viewers would not be required to buy additional hardware. It would work on any 3D enabled TV(like Mitsubishi and Samsung) with a standard Blu-ray player.

Most 3D entertainment requires the use of glasses, but Dolby says its technology would support any glasses the TV maker specifies.

Home 3D so far lacks a unifying tech standard. Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE), the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) and the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) are working on ways to help standardize 3D home entertainment.

Go Dolby

HDTV Homes Rise in Europe to 59 Million
Research from Paris-based Euroconsult and NPA say HDTV-equipped households in Europe reached 59 million and will rise to 170 million by 2013. Between now and 2010, Euroconsult and NPA predict a rapid climb to 116 million, a 51% penetration rate. By 2018, researchers say Europe will have 220 million HD-enabled homes.

The continued fall in prices of HD flat screen TVs will lead the growth, the report notes. It also acknowledges the inclusion of HDTV capability as a standard feature in flat screens sold throughout Europe.

Meanwhile, the number of pay-TV networks in Europe offering HD has almost tripled in the last two years, the report states. There are now 130 channels broadcasting in HD in Europe, and this may rise to 600 by 2013. Satellite platforms are expected to continue to be the dominant players in the HDTV market, but cable and IPTV are working hard to catch up, and developments are forecast in DTT.

Go HDTV in Europe, Key Economics & Prospects to 2018