Following the unveiling earlier this year of ESPN’s Innovation Lab for development of 3DTV, among other technologies, and the opening this year of various Sony 3D production and research facilities from Culver City, Ca., to Las Vegas, Panasonic Corp. has established its own 3D Innovation Center in Japan to accelerate the development of its 3D business.
This center, scheduled to become fully operational on July 12, will serve as a contact point for customers related to the 3D business by coordinating the various departments within the Panasonic Group, in order to provide said customers with optimum solutions in this business. Through this initiative, Panasonic aims to achieve growth in its network AV business, one of the company’s key business fields, and contribute to the expansion of the 3D industry as a whole.
The following two activities are now being launched in Japan as part of this center’s initiatives:
* Panasonic Authoring Center Roppongi, a Panasonic Blu-ray Disc authoring site in Japan, will start its Blu-ray 3DTM authoring services on June 4, 2010.
* The Panasonic 3D Camera (AG-3DA1) Seminar 2010 is open this month at Panasonic Digital Software Laboratory, Tennozu, Tokyo, to help video producers learn about everything from the basics to the applications of 3D video production.
Panasonic foresees the expansion of 3D technology in a diverse range of industries that will include healthcare, education, and arts.
Specifically, the center will focus on the following three key areas: coordination of the 3D business, from contents production to device solutions; production/communication/viewing workflow for 3D content; and software/hardware and systems innovations.
The center has been established under the control of AVC Networks Company in Kadoma City, Osaka, and will be managed by Masayoshi Fujii, Director of the Consumer & Systems Marketing Center of the AVC Networks Company’s TV Business Unit. It will be operated under a flexible management structure in close collaboration with R&D and business departments (including the Corporate R&D Group, AVC Networks Company, Panasonic System Networks Co., Ltd., and Panasonic Visuals, Inc.).
In February 2009 Panasonic established the Panasonic Hollywood Laboratory Advanced Authoring Center for the authoring and recording of 3D Hollywood movies onto Blu-ray Discs. Then, in spring 2010, it led the industry in launching Full HD 3D TVs and Blu-ray Disc recorder/players. Meanwhile, the company has also developed the world’s first Twin-lens Full HD 3D camcorder to enable economical but highly-efficient production of 3D videos. The cameras will go on sale this autumn.
— By Scott Hettrick