Olympus Visual Communications Corp. (President: Tetsuya Ichikawa), a member of the Olympus Group, plans to market a 3D viewing kit for PCs. The PC 3D Viewer Kit, which will go on sale on February 23, will be sold as a bundle consisting of an LCD monitor (*1) and a package containing 3D media player software, 3D shutter glasses and a controller box. It is designed for use by creators of 3D content. Buyers will be able to place orders by fax or via the Olio Store, an on-line shop operated by Olympus Visual Communications.
Website address: http://olio-store.jp/(Japanese Only) Fax: 03-3288-1432

*1	The E2400HD LCD monitor manufactured by BenQ

Olympus Visual Communications is pleased to announce the launch of the PC 3D Kit for content creators. The kit will be bundled with a monitor recommended by Olympus Visual Communications. Previously 3D stereoscopic playback required a specially configured 3D monitor. The new PC 3D Kit will allow users to view 3D content simply by attaching the kit to a standard LCD monitor.^*2

Until now content creators have had no way to check the 3D stereoscopic effect of their work on a PC monitor. By using this kit, they will be able to view the 3D content of work in progress immediately using CG software. This ability to check 3D stereoscopic effects and correct parallax errors directly will bring major improvements in content production efficiency.

We will open special web site for creators on March.(URL:http://www.ep-s.jp/3dkit) Japanese only.

*2	Operating requirements for the kit are shown on "LCD monitor operating requirements".

Launch Summary (This product is sold only in Japan)

Product Name	Start of Order Processing
PC 3D Kit + Recommended Monitor Bundle	February 23, 2009

Principal Features

1. Convenient functions allow frequent checking of 3D stereoscopic effects and parallax error correction during 3D content development.
2. The shutter glasses timing optimization allows 3D stereoscopic viewing on a standard LCD monitor, dramatically reducing 3D implementation costs.
3. With a refresh rate over 75Hz and a GTG response time of 2ms, the BenQ monitor is the ideal combination for minimizing flicker and ghost-image.

Background

Olympus Visual Communications has long been involved in the 3D business, especially the development and sale of eye care content and sports vision training system based on original 3D stereoscopic imaging technology. In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of 3D movie theaters, and manufacturers have also announced 3D-capable LCD televisions. These improvements in 3D infrastructure are expected to drive growth in the demand for 3D content. This new PC 3D Kit, which will be bundled with an LCD monitor, offers convenient new features for 3D content creators and will make an important contribution to the availability of 3D content production environments.

Detailed Features of PC 3D Kit + Monitor Bundle

1. Convenient functions allow frequent checking of 3D stereoscopic effects and parallax error correction during 3D content development.
Until now content creators wishing to check 3D stereoscopic effects in their work have had to convert 3D images into the final format, such as Digital Cinema Package, and view it using the ultimate display system. This was troublesome and time-consuming. With the PC 3D kit, they can check 3D stereoscopic effects in work in progress frequently on their PCs. This feature will help to bring major improvements in 3D content production efficiency and the quality of finished work.

2. The shutter glasses timing optimization allows 3D stereoscopic viewing on a standard LCD monitor, dramatically reducing 3D implementation costs.
The shutter glasses timing optimization technology developed exclusively by Olympus Visual Communications (patent pending) ensures stable 3D images on a standard LCD monitor using frame sequential stereoscopic method ^*3. The ability to use a standard monitor reduces costs compared with systems that require the purchase of special 3D monitors. Moreover, the use of shutter technology allows 3D images to be viewed at full resolution.

*3	With the frame sequential stereoscopic method, 3D viewing is achieved by alternately showing different images to the left and right eyes by using a shutter glasses. Shutter glasses have a pair of LC shutters that open and close 30-60 times per second. The timing of glasses is synchronized with the video signal to the display monitor.

3. With a refresh rate over 75Hz and a GTG response time of 2ms, the BenQ monitor is the ideal combination for minimizing flicker and ghost-images.
With shutter-type 3D stereoscopic systems, flicker is least noticeable on monitors with high refresh rate. Ghost-images can be reduced by using monitors with fast response times. The BenQ E2400HD monitor bundled with the kit is recommended by Olympus Visual Communications as the best monitor currently on the market for displaying 3D content. ^*4

*4	Based on research by Olympus Visual Communications (as of February 13, 2009)

Other Features

• Convenient features for content creators, including played file reference function, and support for avi format
• Player software supports multiple 3D displays, including 3D head-mounted displays, polarized monitors and 3D ready DPL projectors

Principal Features of PC 3D Viewer Kit

Olympus Power3D Media Player ver.1.3 3D media player software

Functions

• 3D stereoscopic movie file playback (wmv, avi, mpeg, mpg, divx, div and p3d files with vertical or horizontal splitting)
• Playback of stereoscopic photographs and other image files (jps, jpg, jpeg, bmp with horizontal splitting)
• 3D-like playback of staggering 2D movie (wmv, avi, mpeg, mpg, divx, div)
• 3D-like playback of staggering 2D image (jpg, jpeg, bmp)
• Switching 3D display (shutter glasses, 3D head-mounted displays, µPol polarized monitors, 3D ready DLP projectors)
• Parallax adjustments, 2D/3D switching, reverse-view switching, shutter glasses timing adjustment
• Other features: file information display, photo slide shows, color adjustment, automatic updating

*	The file extension of ".p3d" denotes a 3D image format provided by Olympus Visual Communications.
*	With horizontal splitting, left and right images are placed side by side. With vertical splitting, left and right images are placed top and bottom.
*	There is no restriction on the resolution of image format, but this is dependent on the grafphic performance of the PC.
*	The playback performance of movie file depends on the CODEC decoding process.

Software operating environment

OS	Windows Vista 32-bit Windows XP 32-bit
CPU	Intel Core 2 Duo 1.4GHz or better (dual-core operation), or Pentium 4 3.0GHz or better (single-core operation)
Memory	At least 1,024MB
Hard disk space	At least 2GB of free space
Graphic chipset	Intel 945G or better
Resolution	At least 800x600

3D shutter glasses (Olympus Power3D Glasses, S-LM100)

Main unit	Wired LCD shutter glasses Effective field of vision: 44.5mm (W) x 27.0mm (H) Foldable (flat-type) Connection cable (power supply, synchronization)

Controller box (Olympus Power3D Controller Box CB100)

Controller box	External dimensions: 26mm (W) x 52mm (H) x 13mm (D) USB cable
Screen sensor	External dimensions: 21mm (W) x 27mm (H) x 14.5mm (D) Connection cable

LCD monitor operating requirements

Resolution	800x600, Hi-Color or better (16.77 million colors recommended)
Response time	8ms or faster (recommendations: 6ms or faster for monochrome, 2ms or faster for halftones)

Principal specifications for BenQ E2400HD monitor

Size	24-inch widescreen
Resolution	1,920x1,080 (HD1080)
Response time	5ms/2ms (GTG)
Color reproduction	Approx. 16.77 million colors
Vertical frequency	50-76Hz
External dimensions	582.6mm(W)x451mm(H)x197.4(D)mm