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Test applications from Rohde & Schwarz ensure trouble-free TV experience in 3D

Munich, Apr 16, 2010 - Viewers will soon be able to enjoy 3D entertainment not only in movie theaters but also at home. New TV sets and set-top boxes that make it possible to reproduce images in 3D are being developed. Rohde & Schwarz offers broadcast equipment manufacturers and broadcast network operators test solutions for implementing the new 3D technology. The R&S SFU, R&S SFE and R&S SFE100 broadcast signal generators are available for the development and production of set-top boxes and their components. The quality of TV displays can be assessed using the R&S DVSG video signal generator. The R&S DVM monitoring solution and the R&S ETL TV analyzer for monitoring broadcast 3D TV transmissions round out the portfolio.

3D TV refers to a technology that makes motion picture or television images appear to be in three dimensions, where two perspectives of the same scene are offset by the distance between one’s eyes and reproduced on the screen in a defined sequence. Today’s TV sets are unable to show these different images, which is why new 3D TV sets are being developed. Most manufacturers use the shutter-glasses concept: The lenses of the glasses contain liquid crystals that alternate between transparent and opaque – so that, synchronized with the LCD screen, the correct image is displayed to the correct eye, producing the 3D effect.

The R&S SFU, R&S SFE and R&S SFE100 broadcast signal generators support manufacturers in the development, servicing, quality assurance and production of the new generation of TV receivers. The product family is cross-compatible, and the instruments complement each other to provide a range of versatile solutions. For the development of user equipment, Rohde & Schwarz offers the R&S SFU high-end generator. The R&S SFE mid-range generator is suitable for general-purpose lab applications as well as for technical service and quality assurance. In the manufacture of broadcast user equipment, the R&S SFE100 is used as a test transmitter. Internal transport stream generators for the R&S SFx family are optionally available. They allow manufacturers to play back proprietary or recorded 3D TV test streams. The streams are subsequently modulated onto RF carriers and output to the device under test. Alternatively, 3D TV transport streams from a library can be used.

The R&S DVSG video signal generator from Rohde & Schwarz is a compact solution for the development and quality assurance of TV displays and projectors. It outputs uncompressed video signals via an HDMI interface and supports the formats used for 3D TV transmissions. Instead of static images, the R&S DVSG provides long, moving sequences that allow the displays of the new 3D generation to be subjectively assessed. Users are also able to generate and integrate their own test patterns to analyze 3D-TV-specific errors such as crosstalk.

The 3D images are conveyed in a modified MPEG transport stream and broadcast via the commonly used radio-frequency signals. The audio and video signals are fed to the TV set via the set-top box and HDMI interface. The R&S ETL TV analyzer and the R&S DVM monitoring solution allow network operators to reliably analyze their terrestrial, cable or satellite 3D TV transmissions at RF and transport stream level.

The Rohde & Schwarz product portfolio for 3D TV supports analysis and monitoring applications used by network operators and is suitable for development, quality assurance and production applications employed by manufacturers of TV sets and set-top boxes.

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