Thursday, February 4, 2010

Leipzig in 3d!

Hello to you all,

Since I've been running the Somerset3d website I've had lots of emails from other people around the world doing a similar thing. One such person is Frank in Germany who contacted me during the Christmas holiday and runs the website 3d Photos.Net.

Apart from his hometown of Leipzig there are also entries for Sudfriedhof, Innenhofe and other places I don't have a chance of pronouncing correctly to do them justice. A couple of samples can be seen below. I urge you to visit the site to see the full collection.



Top left is Riquet Cafe and the bottom left image is of Uhr am Kroch-Hochhaus, both in Leipzig.






All galleries are also available to view with the orange and blue 3d glasses from Sainsbury's used for the recent 3d week on channel 4 in the UK.
On the Somerset3d website this week's update is for Kingston St Mary. I visited the village in September of last year during a marathon day of 3d, visiting and recording 13 different locations in one day. Not my favourite way of visiting the villages but sometimes
stock is so low, and the following months have too much planned to do, that way is the only way. I may have to do another marathon day soon, as stock is running low once more.







That's your lot for today. Don't forget to visit the Speakin Zummerzet feature to keep yer Zummerzet up and Ill zid ee nex wick.






PS. I'm having problems with the layout. The pictures keep adjusting and moving and the text isn't appaering like it looks when I'm working on the draft. I'll have to have a chat and take lessons from my excellent blogger of a wife who runs the Suzy's Vintage Attic blog.




Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Blog Resurrection

Hello and welcome to the resurrected Alan Woollard Photography Blog.

As previous visitors will know I decided to close the blog in November 2008. My reason was all due to the lack of time I could commit to said blog.

Well, although time is still an issue, I feel that there is too much going on in the world of 3d for me to ignore so I have decided to start blogging again.

So, let's get on with it.

I'm sure all of you are aware of how well the 3d movie Avatar has done at the box office since its release. It looks like 2010 could be the breakthrough year for 3d films.


In other news:







PANASONIC is one of the major players in the new push to 3-D and the company announced its first 3D Blu-ray player at CES 2010.

Key features of the Panasonic DMP-BDT350 are as follows:
  • 3-D Blu-ray player.
  • PHL Reference Chroma Processor Plus video processor.
  • Supports Panasonic's VieraCast streaming content portal, which will feature content from Amazon Video On Demand, YouTube, Picasa, Netflix, Pandora and Twitter.
  • SD cart slot and USB port.
  • 14-second boot up time.
  • Wi-Fi ready; requires USB dongle (not confirmed whether or not this is included).

As of the date of this posting there is no release date or pricing announced.
3-D Blu-ray will likely require both a compatible HDTV and a new HDMI 1.4 cable, so the true cost of 3-D will be quite high. Also, there's the issue of 3-D Blu-ray media, which will probably be in short supply for all of 2010. No manufacturers have as yet announced any pricing or release dates for 3-D Blu-ray players.

PRESS RELEASE FROM SKY


Sky has announced that the number of customers choosing Sky+HD, the UK’s only high definition (HD) service currently capable of broadcasting 3D services, has increased to 1.313 million following record growth.


Customers have responded in record numbers to Sky’s high quality and great value HD service. Sky has more than doubled the number of HD customers in the last year alone with over 90 customers* an hour joining Sky+HD.


In the next step in the Sky+HD journey, Sky today announced that it will launch the UK’s first 3D channel next year. The channel will offer a broad selection of the best available 3D programming, which is expected to include movies, entertainment and sport. The service will be broadcast across Sky’s existing HD infrastructure and be available via the current generation of Sky+HD set-top boxes. To watch 3D, customers will also require a new '3D Ready' TV, which are expected to be on sale in the UK next year.


This commitment follows extensive research and development activity into 3D, which included Sky becoming the first TV company in Europe to broadcast a live event in 3D TV. On 2nd April 2009 Sky successfully broadcast a performance by Keane live from Abbey Road Studios via the company’s satellite network to a Sky+HD set-top box and domestic 3D Ready TV.
Sky has also confirmed the launch of a comprehensive ‘pull’ video-on-demand (VOD) service next year, to provide Sky+HD customers with additional choice and control to complement Sky+ and the current Sky Anytime ‘push’ VOD service. This new service will use the broadband capability of existing Sky+HD boxes.


Brian Sullivan, Managing Director of Sky’s Customer Group, comments:
“Well over a million homes have future-proofed themselves with Sky+HD, a platform for choice, quality and future innovation. With Sky+ as standard, our customers are already enjoying amazing picture and sound quality on a range of high-quality HD channels which cater to the interests and passions of the whole family.


“Next year we will make our HD boxes work even harder for customers by launching Europe’s first 3D TV channel, as well as introducing a comprehensive video-on-demand service to complement Sky+ and the current Sky Anytime service. “3D is a genuinely ‘seeing is believing’ experience, making TV come to life as never before. Just like the launch of digital, Sky+ and HD, this is latest step in our commitment to innovating for customers.”


Sky launched the UK’s first national HD service in May 2006 which has since become Europe’s most successful HD service. Today Sky+HD customers can watch 33 HD channels from leading brands such as Sky Movies, Sky Sports, Channel 4, Disney, MTV, BBC, Discovery, FX, Sky1 and National Geographic. Sky+HD customers can choose up to 400 hours a day – or 13,000 hours a month – of quality HD content, which is significantly more than any other TV platform.
Further channels are due shortly, including ESPN HD (August 2009), and Sky News HD (Spring 2010), with a view to growing the offering to 50 channels over time.


Further details on Sky’s pull VOD and 3DTV services, including pricing, packaging and entitlement, will be announced closer to launch.

So, it appears that 3d is here to stay this time.

My own site Somerset3d is still going strong with last week's updates featuring Leighton in somerset and Launceston in Cornwall. Terminator fans may wish to check out the Speakin Zummerzet page to see what a Somerset Terminator would sound like (Scroll down to the entry for 14th January 2010).

That's your lot for this post. See you soon.