Barco and partners win Gold ITEA Achievement Award for European 3DTV project

Kortrijk, Belgium, 22 November 2012 – Barco, one of the leading contributors to the JEDI project, proudly announces that the project has won a Gold ITEA Achievement Award. JEDI (Just Explore Dimensions), a part of the ITEA2 (Information Technology for European Advancement - EUREKA cluster program Σ! 3674) platform, is supported by the Agency for Innovation by Science and Technology (IWT) and focuses on an end-to-end High Definition 3DTV chain (stereoscopic HD TV broadcasts with Blu-ray quality). This includes methods of capturing, production, distribution and displaying of stereoscopic HD video.

The JEDI project was carried out by 21 partners from three European countries: Belgium, France and Spain. With 11 industrial enterprises, 3 research/academic partners, 6 SMEs and 1 public broadcaster, the consortium was not only very diverse but also encompassed the complete HD 3DTV value chain – from camera-capturing and encoding, to transmission and decoding, to display. An important part of the project was also to assess and optimize user experience. Because the JEDI project serves as a first step toward multi-view 3D, it also included a study of how multi-view 3DTV for consumers will evolve, and in which timeframe.

Results already visible in Barco products

Barco was the leader of the “Demonstrations & User Assessment” Work Package, one of the five work packages in the JEDI project. The objective of the work package was to explore innovative ways of displaying 3D content in the most comfortable way for the viewer. The lessons learned by participating in this project have proven to be extremely valuable for Barco’s product development. Results are already visible in a broad range of products, including stereoscopic LED walls, and video wall cubes.

Europe in pole position

ITEA 2 is the premier cooperative R&D program for software intensive systems and services in Europe (pre-competitive research), and a cluster of EUREKA, a leading pan-European platform for R&D-performing entrepreneurs. “The objective of the JEDI project was to give European companies a competitive edge in the development of 3DTV solutions,” says Andy De Mets, Coordinator External R&D and Innovation Programs for Barco. “This Gold ITEA Achievement Award proves that we have succeeded in all areas, including innovation, exploitation and dissemination. It puts the European partners in pole position for the development of 3DTV solutions, a market that is expected to become mature in the next five to ten years.”

About Barco

Barco, a global technology company, designs and develops visualization products for a variety of selected professional markets. Barco has its own facilities for Sales & Marketing, Customer Support, R&D and Manufacturing in Europe, North America and Asia Pacific. Barco (NYSE Euronext Brussels: BAR) is active in more than 90 countries with more than 3,700 employees worldwide. Barco posted sales of 1,041 million euro in 2011.

For more information, please contact:

  Lynn Ryon
  Press & PR contact EMEA & LATAM
  Barco n.v.

  Telephone +32 56 36 8166
  lynn.ryon@barco.com

  Annette Davis
  Press & PR contact US
  Barco n.v.

  Telephone: +1 678.475.8183
  annette.davis@barco.com

  Li Shen
  Press & PR contact Greater China
  Barco n.v.

  Telephone +86 10 5650 2288
  li.shen@barco.com