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QPC Lasers Inc, which manufactures high-power lasers for consumer, industrial, defense and medical markets, has become a founding member of the 3D@Home Consortium, an alliance launched on 15 April by the US Display Consortium (USDC) of San Jose, CA, USA and display-focused publishing and consulting firm Insight Media to speed commercialization of affordable in-home 3D entertainment.

The 22 international founding members include board-level members Philips and Samsung, leadership-level member Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, and 19 other members including Thomson, IMAX, TDVision, 3DIcon, Corning, Planar Systems, SeeReal, 3ality, DDD, In-Three, Quantum Data, Sensio, Fraunhofer Institute IMPS, Sim2, Setred, Universal Studios Home Entertainment, Holografika and Volfoni in addition to QPC.

QPC says that its BrightLase on-chip laser technology offers a compact, low-cost and high-efficiency visible laser solution designed to enable a new generation of laser displays for the high-growth consumer electronics market (compatible with most technology formats, including LCoS, DLP, LC and micro-mirror micro-display devices). Last November, the firm announced a $12m contract for Generation III BrightLase chip technology for laser TV applications.

“QPC Lasers has already begun engaging the laser display market with visible lasers based on our BrightLase technology,” says CEO Dr Jeffrey Ungar. “3D-enabled displays using this technology will create an even more immersive experience for the user and allow BrightLase-based visible lasers to be exploited to their full commercial capacity.”

“This strong international group of founding companies is a testament to the wide-spread interest and possibilities in stereoscopic 3D home entertainment,” says USDC’s CEO Michael Ciesinski. “We expect many more to join in the coming months.”

The 3D@Home Consortium is focused on three main short-term goals: creating and publishing useful technical roadmaps; developing educational materials for consumer and retail channels; and facilitating the development of industry standards and their dissemination.

“We see a host of new opportunities for cooperation and innovation on the horizon - not only for display providers, but for those within every facet of the 3D technology chain,” says USDC’s chief technology officer Dr Mark Hartney.

Driven by the success of 3D in digital cinema, a new ecosystem is forming to develop the hardware, software, content and delivery mechanisms to bring 3D entertainment (e.g. 3D gaming, sports, movies etc) into the home. “In 2008, millions of TVs, capable of showing stereoscopic 3D content, will be purchased by consumers,” says Insight Media’s president Chris Chinnock. “The value of DLP, PDP and LCD TVs sold in 2008 that are capable of showing HD-quality stereoscopic 3D content is expected to exceed $2bn, making this market large enough to attract the interest and attention of many players,” he adds.

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Visit: www.QPClasers.com

Visit: www.3dathome.org