The Hulk bursts out of screen in Philips commercial

2D into 3D converted Philips commercial shown at CES2007 in Las Vegas

Las Vegas, U.S.A. – Philips Electronics (AEX: PHI, NYSE: PHG) announced today that it will showcase the capabilities of its 3D content-enabling software, for converting existing high-definition 2D commercials and professional stereo video footage into 3D for visualization on Philips professional 3D displays, at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES2007), in Las Vegas, Nevada from January 8^th-11^th.

 

Philips 3D displays using WOWvx technology deliver stunning out-of-screen 3D effects without the need for special glasses or filters. These professional displays are in use today in shopping malls, casinos, restaurants and museums where the 3D displays are used as a differentiator, immediately grabbing the attention of the visitor, giving them an extraordinarily, immersive and entertaining 3D experience.

 

To support its customers in the creation of the 3D content, Philips has developed a carefully targeted suite of 3D content-enabling software, to unlock the customer’s new and existing material for visualization in 3D using the ‘2D-plus-depth’ format. This includes plug-ins for animation software, OpenGL Control for real-time applications, and semi-automated video conversion from 2D to 3D as well as real-time stereo to 3D conversion tools.

 

Philips semi-automated 2D to 3D conversion tool can use existing high-definition 2D video as input. An operator can manually indicate depth information to key-frames. The software uses these to automatically calculate the depth information for each of the image frames of the remaining part of that scene. At CES2007, Philips will show a commercial that has been converted from the original 2D material into barrier bursting 3D.

 

High-definition stereo video footage can be converted in real-time with the Philips stereo to 3D conversion tool. It calculates the depth information using the disparity between the left and right image. To demonstrate the potential of visualizing stereo video on Philips 3D displays at CES2007, Philips will show a production that was created using a stereo high-definition (two) camera setup.

 

Philips WOWvx 3D content enabling software, Open GL Control and the 3D animation software plug-in are now available from the company. The semi-automated 2D-to-3D conversion tool and the Stereo-to-3D tool will be commercially available in Q2 of 2007. Moreover, from February 2007 onwards, Philips will provide semi-automated 2D to 3D conversion and Stereo to 3D content conversion services to selected customers.

 

Philips is focusing first on the professional application market for its 3D displays, but it also very much wants to bring the 3D experience to the wider consumer entertainment market, promising the next trend in an immersive experience for gaming and home theater.

 

CES2007

2007 CONSUMER ELECTRONICS SHOW is held January 8-11, 2007 (Monday - Thursday) at the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC) in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. Philips can be found at booth Central 13306 .