September 2, 2010

CableLabs Publishes 3D Content Encoding Specification

CableLabs has published a new specification as a guide for producers, programmers and aggregators of stereoscopic 3D programming. This new specification, called Content Encoding Profiles 3.0 Specification (OC-SP-CEP3.0-I01-100827), can be found on the CableLabs website, under OpenCable Specifications.

This new specification details exact requirements for formatting or “panelizing” the 3D content into a frame-compatible format for use by cable television systems.

“This spec release marks a great step in the commercialization of 3D TV because it is the first public specification that fully describes the coding and signaling for these top-and-bottom and side-by-side 3D video formats,” said Tony Werner, CTO of Comcast, in a statement.

“A key part of this specification includes the definitions for signaling 3D content over existing digital video infrastructure that uses either MPEG-2 or MPEG-4 (AVC/H.264) coding,” said Jim Occhiuto, VP/Technology and Engineering, Showtime Networks, in a statement. “This signaling is critical for the receiver/decoder to enable automatic format detection and simplified user experiences when going between 2D and 3D programs.”

The new CEP specification replaces the previous VOD-Content Encoding Profile 2.0 specification that was widely used within the industry. This new specification builds upon the existing 2D coding framework defined by the previous version of this document and will be used as the reference for both 2D and 3D video coding going forward. It represents the first step in a continuing process to define 3D formats for cable television that works with existing equipment and infrastructure.

Work continues at CableLabs on the development of standards for the delivery of future 3D delivery systems that will expand the resolution and the quality as new equipment becomes available.