A lot of commercial hype attended the video format wars between Sony’s Blu-Ray and Toshiba’s HD-DVD before and after they were launched in 2007. Just as Sony’s Blu-ray high definition video format has won the format wars against Toshiba’s HD-DVD last year, we now have a new home video viewing format that can take the wind out of Sony’s recent format triumph - one that it finally won after its Betamax fiasco - it’s 3D.

SonicSolutions is readying its CinemaNow based on the stereoscopic 3D that’s sweeping the cinema viewing experience to give movie houses a new lease on life. 3D as it is today is the best thing to happen for movie goers since surround sound came into being in the 90s. And at home, bringing that 3D technology is a step after introducing the DVD, Blu-ray and multi channel audio tracks to home viewing aficionados.

3D Bringing Movie Goers in Droves

There’s no mistake that the 3D movies from Walt Disney, Sony Pictures and Dreamworks have been a great hit in the summer movies this year. Other movie studios are preparing 3D versions of their forthcoming and past movie releases for showing at select movie house specially equipped for stereoscopic 3D projection. There are still disparate 3D technologies behind the studios mentioned. Walt Disney appears to be leading with its Real D Cinema, followed by DreamWorks’ InTru3D and the Fusion Camera System used by other studios. Under each 3D technology, there are still 3D glasses that audiences need to wear but these are stereoscopic glasses, not the old anaglyphs with the red and green plastic lenses on each eye.

3D at Home is Next

SonicSolutions is partnering with Nvida, makers of PC display graphics cards, to come out with 3D video processing chips installed in laptops or home entertainment systems to decode the 3D movie coming in from cable operators. The decoded video would then be output via HDMI to a high definition TC screen. Some TC screens like Samsung’s SyncMaster line or the ViewSonic FuHzion series are already equipped to handle 3D video content.

The details are still speculative on how SonicSolutions will handle the various 3D content formats, but it is certain that the company’s CinemaNow already has content programming from Lions Gate, Sony, Warner Bros., Disney, Paramount, MGM, Universal and 20th Century Fox studios.

With some technical refinements, Sonic’s CinemaNow is expected to become available late this year or early next using the company’s current content delivery channels. Pricing remains undetermined but that should become clear over the next few months nearing the launch of the service.

Not for Everyone

Just like Blu-ray titles remain wanted only be a small market niche still on the road to overtaking the DVD as the premier standard for home videos, which obviously Sony wants, the road to 3D video for the home just might be another uphill battle. It is a fact that most movies become game for hackers to post as standard and high definition files on the torrent sites that can be downloaded free of charge to any computer. The age of the internet has made both movie and music discs less appealing to a growing number of internet savvy users at home. 3D movie streaming may have its appeal. But it pays to wait a while to see the selection of titles which is just a fraction as what’s available in Blu-ray format. GP

ITC Sales are a leading supplier of Dell and HP Laptops such as the Dell Precision and the Dell Vostro.

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