3D pioneer Gene Dolgoff (who invented the first LCD projector, helped develop HDTV, and is currently revolutionizing lenticular imaging technologies at 3-D Vision Inc.) has created a prototype box that he claims will convert any TV into a 3D set.
“Could this be the spark the long-promised 3D revolution needs?” asks Adam Rosenberg, writing for Digital Trends.
Dolgoff — who built his first stereoscopic CRT in 1963 — hopes to provide digital stereoscopic 3D to every viewer with a low-cost device that will convert any type of television into a 3D TV.
“He’s established a Fundable to get the project going — complete with a competition built around having a community-sourced design for the device — and he may well turn to Kickstarter for additional funding once the groundwork is established,” explains the post.
“I was immediately doubtful when I read the pitch,” writes Rosenberg. “After seeing it in person, my doubts were proven to be unfounded. This tech works. And it works exceptionally well.”
Working from his 3-D Vision lab on Long Island, Dolgoff demonstrated the bulky, noisy converter to Rosenberg on multiple displays using DVD, Blu-ray, PlayStation 3 and live television broadcasts.
Rosenberg reports the prototype’s results were impressive and notes that a mass-produced version would be much smaller, lighter, and presumably make less noise.
According to Dolgoff, the software does all the heavy lifting: “It takes the two-dimensional input video signal and it looks at two frames at a time. It looks at brightness, contrast, color saturation, sharpness, position in the frame, because as the depth goes back, all of these things decrease. When you have motion, the occlusion of background objects by foreground objects also gives a lot of information.”
“My whole initial thrust was [the knowledge] that we can’t get everyone to buy a new TV, that’s going to be a logjam. So let’s find a way to make everybody able to see 3D right away with whatever they have,” says Dolgoff. “Once we get it out there, it’s going to get a lot more people watching 3D on their 2D sets and a lot more people buying 3D sets. That’ll start increasing the installed base, which will then provide the incentive for more content to be made in 3D. And then the 3D consumer field will really take off.”
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