The entertainment industry is growing worldwide with rates between 5% and 20%. Even higher growth rates can be observed in the area of 3D cinema. In 2006 330 3D screens had been installed in the US. In 2007 this number has increased to 768, in 2008 it will be doubled and until 2011 more than 4.300 3D screens are expected. The same is true for 3D film production, a number of Hollywood studios have announced major productions in 3D.

These developments have of course an influence on the home market, because secondary distribution (DVD, Blu-ray) of movies has become an important market segment. In addition recent advances in 3D display technology have stimulated research and development in this area and several consortia have been founded and standardization activities have been initiated.

Already in 2003 a 3D Consortium with 70 partner organizations has been founded in Japan and recently new activities have been started: The 3D@Home Consortium (USA), 3D Fusion Industry Consortium (Korea), 3D Interaction & Display Alliance (Taiwan), China 3D Industry Association has been founded, in field of standardization the ICDM, the ISO TC159/SC4 and the SMPTE 3-D Home Entertainment Task Force are working in 3DTV as well as 3D display and display measurement standardization, the Rapporteur Group on 3DTV of ITU-R Study Group 6 and the TM-3D-SM group of DVB began to work. In addition, the Moving Pictures Experts Group (MPEG) of ISO/IEC is working on a new coding format for 3D video.

These industry consortia and standardisation bodies rely on R&D projects, which develop the new technologies which lead to new standards, products and markets. In Germany these developments take place in the PRIME project, while in Europe there are 11 projects in the 3D Media Cluster, which is co-organisers of this workshop. Especially the projects 3DTV, 3D4YOU, 2020 3D MEDIA, MOBILE3DTV, 3DPHONE, 3DPRESENCE, GAMES@LARGE, MUTED, and Helium3D will contribute to this workshop.

The 3D Workshop will provide an international forum to discuss and give guidance to future research, standardisation and development activities of 3D. It will bring together production and post production companies, multimedia content providers, broadcast operators, regulators, manufacturers, and R&D organizations.

Topics to be presented and discussed cover the complete chain of 3D production to 3D displays for 3D cinema, (mobile) 3DTV, 3D games, and other immersive applications around 3D content.

The 3D Workshop will be enriched by a demonstration/exhibition area for research and commercial exhibitors.

We are looking forward to meet you in Berlin,