All technologies go through a series of "way stations" as the products they enable mature from prototype to consumer item. This Display Daily article will report on one such development in the life cycle of an important part of bringing 3D video into the home. More specifically, two companies have teamed to offer a certification program to assure the quality of 3D Blu-ray discs.

Art Berman
Insight Media Consultant

The companies are BluFocus Inc. (Burbank, CA) and THX Ltd. (San Raphael, CA). The partners bring a great deal of relevant experience to the task. BluFocus is an official Testing Center for the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA). THX is well known for the quality system that assures certified theaters provide sound as close as possible to the intentions of the mixing engineer. In addition, THX has created certification processes for a number of additional products such as HDTVs, and now, 3D Blu-ray discs.

Paulette Pantoja, CEO of BluFocus described the problem they seek to address. "The added dimension of 3D brings with it more technical challenges than traditional 2D post-production and authoring, and requires more steps in the production chain. The certification process we are creating with THX will help refine 3D post-production and authoring and help content providers minimize technical flaws long before 3D content is broadcast, streamed or authored on optical disc."

Another aspect of certification is discussed in a press release on the THX web site: "Attention is also paid to disc interoperability, with THX and BluFocus testing Blu-ray Discs and Players to ensure they play seamlessly."

To accomplish these goals, "The new THX-BluFocus 3D certification will set authoring and production guidelines and testing procedures for evaluating 3D AV quality, as well as examining 3D Blu-ray disc and player interoperability and the physiological effects of 3D on home viewers."

The 3D certification consists of three parts. Each part will have a separate icon. If the disc is certified, the manufacturer can include the icon on the product package and, in this way, inform consumers of the assured high quality of the 3D video. The three certification parts are as follows:

This certification will assure that the Blu-ray disc will play without problem on the conventional and 3D Blu-ray players offered by a wide range of major consumer electronics companies. THX has stated that each disc seeking certification will be tested on more than 100 Blu-ray players.

This certification is an assurance that the image in every frame of the 3D video has been analyzed. That both the left eye and right eye images have the same quality, sharpness and detail of the original master video. As a separate matter, the audio elements will also be evaluated to assure that they are true to the master recording. Achievement of a certification assures the user that this 3D Blu-ray disc is free of digital artifacts.

This certification indicates that engineers have reviewed all 3D visual elements including characters, menus, graphics and subtitles to assure they are properly focused and in the accurate "action location" on screen. 2D-to-3D conversions will also be analyzed to detect creative errors and/or flaws that diverge from the director’s intent or that may cause 3D related viewing problems.

It still remains very early days for 3D in the home. Incompatibilities exist and, in fact, are common between equipment and software provided by different companies. It would seem to be of value to have a certification to assure that any 3D video a consumer chooses to purchase will in fact work and be of high quality when played on their Blu-ray player. With this in mind, all the 3D industry can wish good luck to THX and BluFocus with the certification program.