The Hong Kong Section celebrated its 16th anniversary on November 12 by organizing a half day seminar on Stereoscopic 3D in Television Technology. More than 500 guests attended the event which was held at the Auditorium of the Hong Kong Design Institute.
 
Industry experts from China, Japan, the US and Hong Kong gave presentations on S3D technology and applications.
 
Prof Du Baichuan from China’s SARFT talked about all matters relating to S3D. 3D broadcasting is happening in North America, Europe and Asia. The basis for the success of S3D is taking shape. Prof Du explained the common technical terms for S3D as well as the progress by various standards organizations. Prof Du concluded his presentation by saying that it still takes time to reach a common standard and today’s 3D programmes are still considered not suitable for prolong viewing.
 
Mr Yasushi Yamamoto from Sony Corporation gave two presentations. The first one was on S3D production. He explained the components in the S3D programme production chain and S3D programmes can be made for the cinema and TV broadcast. Mr Yamamoto finished the first presentation by showing a 3D movie clip and a live recording of a famous Japanese female singer. Mr Yamamoto’s second presentation was on this year’s FIFA World cup in South Africa. He explained the production set up both in the OB van and inside the stadium. He also explained the signal flow from the stadium to other parts of the world. Mr Yamamoto concluded his presentation by showing some exciting clips from the matches.
 
Mr Toshiyuki Suzuki from Canon Japan explained the optical requirements for shooting S3D programmes and different types of shooting arrangements. He then explained Canon’s lens development history for 3D shooting; and the type of programme productions which are happening in the US and Europe.
 
Mr Stephen Cha from 3Ality Digital explained the current status and challenges on  technology, production and programming for 3D. He emphasized the importance for good programmes rather than better technology. He had also shown to the audience some interesting 3D video and movie clips.
 
Mr Percy Fung gave a lively explanation of his S3D works including showing the S3D video which he made for the Hong Kong Pavilion in the recently held World Expo in Shanghai.
 
Mr Nelson Szeto from Hong Kong Design Institute and Mr Calvin Ng from Sony Hong Kong explained the equipment employed and experience gained on the S3D Workshop organized by the Hong Kong Section in September this year. The presentation ended with the showing of the work by the workshop’s participants.
 
The seminar was followed by a dinner in a nearby restaurant. We have had the honor of Mr Kelvin Lo, board member of HK-TVB, and Dr M Prillmann, Member of the Executive Board of ARRI AG, to join us for a delicious dinner. Speakers and sponsors of the afternoon’s seminar, members of the Hong Kong Section and past sponsors to the section’s seminars and anniversary were also invited.
 
The Hong Kong Section would like to say thank you to Sony Corporation, Chinam Associated Ltd,
 
Digital Magic and RealD for their generous support to the event.