Panasonic, Samsung, Sony to collaborate on 3D glasses

Three of the leading TV manufacturers will cooperate with a primary developer of active shutter 3D on new glasses that will be compatible with each company’s displays.

Panasonic, Samsung, and Sony will collaborate with X6D Limited on a new technology standard for consumer 3D active glasses.

The “Full HD 3D Glasses Initiative” will develop and license RF system protocols between consumer 3D active glasses and 3D displays such as televisions, personal computers, projectors and 3D theaters. The standardization will also include multiple types of infrared system protocols between 3D active glasses and 3D displays, and support Bluetooth wireless technology.

Universal glasses with the new protocols will be made available in 2012, and should be backward compatible with 2011 active 3DTVs.

All of which prompts the question (especially from those who already purchased a 3DTV): why did they wait so long to do this? Current 3DTVs require viewers wear active shutter electronic glasses, which generally work only with one vendor’s TV thanks to proprietary protocols. Meaning if you own a pair, you can’t take them to your neighbor’s house to watch a 3D show together.

X6D Limited develops 3D technologies for home, business, education, cinema, military and medical applications. Under its XpanD brand, it already offers post-market “universal” 3D glasses.