In 2010, Profile 5.0 was introduced called "Blu-ray 3D", which aimed to provide a high-quality stereographic 3D experience for home video, subtitles, and graphics.

This new technology was revolutionary and was quickly adopted by many movie studios at the time. To enjoy 3D content, a TV or projector that is capable of rendering 3D images, an HDMI 1.4 cable, and a Blu-ray 3D player are required. This means that viewers must have a compatible setup to fully experience the 3D technology.

For 3D video, it uses a modified version of the AVC codec created in 2009 called MVC that uses the 2D+Delta method. It uses a Polarized 3D system that uses two separate images projected superimposed onto the same screen through different polarizing filters. Compared to anaglyph images, the use of polarized 3D glasses produces a full-color image that is considerably more comfortable to watch and is not subject to binocular rivalry. It is like AVC but provides a secondary video for the right eye called the MVC-dependent view. The main MVC video for the left eye is called the MVC-base view. 

The max bitrates for the MVC Base view is 40Mbps (5 MB memory), the MVC Dependent view is 40Mbps (5 MB memory), and when the MVC Base view and MVC Dependent view are together is 60Mbps (7.5 MB memory). 

Dredd, a native 3D movie, uses separate videos for the left and right eye.

Then, they are put together to create the 3D effect.

To keep backward compatibility with 2D Blu-ray players, it uses two MPEG-2 Transport Streams - one is a 2D compatible Transport Stream (main TS) and the other is a 3D extended Transport Stream (sub-TS). The main TS includes the MVC Base view video stream and other elementary stream(s) necessary for 2D playback. The main TS is fully compatible with 2D players. The sub-TS includes the MVC Dependent view video stream and other elementary stream(s) necessary for 3D playback. Both main TS and sub-TS are decoded simultaneously for 3D playback. If a 3D disc is played on a normal 2D player, it will ignore any additional information for the MVC-dependent view.

The sum of the maximum multiplex rate of the main TS and sub-TS is 64Mbps (8 MB memory) while the maximum multiplex rate of each TS (main TS and sub-TS) is 48Mbps (6 MB memory) to acknowledge high-quality HD picture to each eye.

Two TSs, the main TS and sub-TS are divided into blocks. Each block contains about a few seconds of AV data, and blocks of the main TS and blocks of sub-TS are interleaved on a disc. The Stereoscopic Interleaved file format (.ssif), under the SSIF directory, is used to continuously read blocks of the main and sub-TS.

The blockbuster movie "Avatar" by James Cameron was considered to be the most impressive 3D movie at home and became the killer app and key driver for the popularity of 3D movies.

For a truly immersive 3D movie experience, a movie must be shot natively with 3D cameras. This means that the movie is captured using cameras that are specifically designed to produce images for both the left and right eye simultaneously, providing a truly 3D visual effect. In the case of animated CGI films, they must render two different images for the left and right eye. A prime example of a movie that was both shot and rendered natively in 3D is James Cameron's Avatar.

However, if a movie is "converted" into 3D from a 2D source, the results can vary greatly depending on the movie and the conversion process used. It is important to note that not all movies are suitable for 3D conversion, and some may not benefit from the added visual effect of 3D at all.

As mentioned above, Blu-ray 3D is supposed to be fully compatible with 2D players, like Dredd and House of Wax. However, some 3D discs cannot be played on 2D players due to limited technical constraints but often include a 2D disc.

Blu-ray 3D provides two presentation types for Interactive, Presentation, and Java graphics with 3D video.

One plane plus offset presentation type

•  This presentation type is prepared for ease of authoring and reduces content production costs. Object(s) for menu or subtitle can be shared for 2D and 3D in this presentation type.

•  Viewers can see flat objects at the same depth from the screen.

 Stereoscopic presentation type

• This presentation type is prepared for a more sophisticated 3D presentation. Independent objects are drawn to two planes, one of which is for the left eye and the other of which is for the right eye.

•  Viewers can see 3D objects each of which has a different depth.

Developers can choose which presentation type they want to use for each graphics layer, for example, one plane plus offset presentation type for PG, Stereoscopic presentation type for IG, or Stereoscopic presentation type for BD-J graphics and Background.

However, a developer should keep in mind that not all 3D players support BD-J graphics, Background, and Interactive/Presentation Graphics in Stereoscopic Output Mode.

Some Blu-ray discs use the old-school Anaglyph 3D with cyan and red colors compatible with regular players and TVs (Polar Express and Friday the 13th). It's not part of the Profile 5.0 specifications as it uses a normal video codec with a red-cyan anaglyph image.

As of 2017, most 3D TV sets and services are no longer available from manufacturers. As of 2018, most major home entertainment studios, such as Disney, Sony, Warner Bros., and Universal, discontinued the Blu-ray 3D format in North America but continued to produce and sell them in other regions such as Europe and Japan.

Despite the decline in the popularity of 3D technology in recent years, it's worth noting that Blu-ray 3D has not been abandoned or discontinued. Also, 3D projectors are still being produced and there are boutique labels that, with the help of the 3D Film Archive, are releasing 3D films on Blu-ray 3D in North America as of 2023. This means that fans of 3D movies can still enjoy their favorite films with the added dimensionality that they love, albeit with fewer mainstream options available.

 

 

Sources

• Blu-ray Official White Paper Tech Specs and 3D specs (PDF) Version 2.4 - 2010

Author(s) : Æ Firestone