The Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA), which develops and licenses Blu-ray disc technology, yesterday announced that it has finalised the specification for 3D Blu-ray. This paves the way for manufacturers to develop 3D playback capabilities for the home entertainment market.

December 18, 2009 — The BDA has completed development of the new 3D Blu-ray specification, which it will make available shortly to allow manufacturers and studios to begin developing products for the consumer market. With the new discs, 3D Blu-ray players will be able to deliver full 1080p video streams to each of the viewer’s eyes, albeit with increased compression.

Players supporting the new standard will also provide backwards compatibility with the current 2D standard — you’ll be able to play old discs on the new players, for example. Current Blu-ray players will also be able to output 2D video from a 3D disc. Furthermore, the standard will ensure compatibility with various display types, so when users pick up a 3D-ready TV, they needn’t worry about whether it uses LCD, plasma, or another technology.

Scenes like this are common at trade fairs, but 3D glasses might soon become a feature of the living room.

Video encoding for 3D material will use the Multiview Video Codec (MVC), which is an extension of the H.264/AVC codec currently supported by all BD players. Under the new, more-efficient encoding method, the two 1080p video streams (for the left and right eyes) will together use just 50 percent more storage space than the normal 2D Blu-ray signal.

This explains how the developers plan to accommodate two Full HD streams on a disc that normally carries just one. But it’s not just the video that’ll come in 3D — the new standard allows for 3D menus and subtitles, so that users can experience films entirely in three dimensions.