Panasonic wants Blu-ray standard for 3D imagery

Panasonic Corp of Japan has disclosed the submission of a proposal to the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA), for a Blu-ray Disc standard to store three-dimensional (3D) imagery formed of left-/right-eye two-channel full-High Definition (HD) images (1,920 x 1,080 pixels). It is also considering submitting a proposal for a High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) standard capable of transmitting 3D imagery. The BDA hopes to begin formal discussion on the standard proposal before the end of 2008, with commercial adoption probably in 2010.

There are two reasons why Panasonic moved to propose a standard ahead of other firms: to avoid the same sort of futile standards war that occurred with next-gen Digital Videodiscs (DVD), and to prevent patent conflict related to 3D imagery standards.