Panasonic, Samsung, Sony and X6D Limited (XPAND 3D) are to collaborate on the development of a new technology standard for consumer 3D active glasses, under the name, "Full HD 3D Glasses Initiative."

With this new agreement, the companies want to develop and license the radio frequency (RF) system 3D active glasses technology, including RF system protocols between consumer 3D active glasses and 3D displays such as TVs, PCs, projectors and 3D theaters with XPAND active shutter glasses.

The standardization will also include multiple types of infrared (IF) system protocols between 3D active glasses and 3D displays, ranging from the protocols jointly developed by Panasonic and XPAND 3D, to the proprietary protocols of Samsung and Sony, respectively.

The license of the newly-announced Full HD 3D Glasses Initiative is scheduled to be released next month. Universal glasses with the new IR/RF protocols will be made available in 2012, and are targeted to be backward compatible with 2011 3D active TVs. The objective of this initiative is a wide scale introduction of universal active 3D glasses to the market.

Glasses utilising 3D active shutter technology enable Full HD 3D picture quality to be displayed to each eye, as well as making use of the wireless Bluetooth technology.

"To-date, active 3D technology has proven to be the most popular choice for consumers in the 3D TV market. According to the NPD Group, Active 3D technology took an average of 96% share of the US 3D TV market in the first half of this year,” says Jurack Chae, vice president, R&D Team, Visual Display Business, Samsung Electronics. “This Full HD 3D Glasses Initiative will help further drive consumer adoption and understanding of active 3D-the technology that provides the clearest and most immersive 3D experience available."

Story filed 11.08.11