Progress in European 3DTV research

A two-year, pan-European research project has been developing key technologies for every stage of 3DTV implementation, from capture to display and everything in between. Creation of ghost-like images of 3D objects and environments is the ultimate goal in video sciences. True 3D viewing will be far more exciting and satisfying than today’s common 2D displays. The capture of 3D scenes, their abstract representation and storage, transmission, and finally their display are the primary technical components of 3DTV. The history of stereoscopic 3D imaging is almost as old as that of 2D. Within a year or so after they invented conventional TV in the 1920s, engineers also demonstrated the feasibil-ity of stereoscopic 3DTV. By the 1950s there were plenty of stereoscopic 3D motion pictures. However, although 2DTV flourished—it improved technologically, became commerciall