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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE, WOODS HOLE OCEANOGRAPHIC INSTITUTION
USE JVC GD-463D10U MONITORS FOR MOBILE 3D EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS

WAYNE, NJ (April 12, 2010) – JVC Professional Products, a division of JVC U.S.A., today announced that the Denver-based National Park Service Submerged Resources Center (SRC) is using the JVC GD-463D10U 46-inch 3D LCD HD monitor to bring underwater 3D footage to students across the country. The underwater footage is being produced through a partnership with the Advanced Imaging and Visualization Laboratory (AIVL) at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Woods Hole, Mass. JVC will screen samples of the footage during the 2010 NAB Show in Las Vegas, Nev., April 12-15 (Booth C4314).

The JVC GD-463D10U monitor has an integrated Xpol polarizing filter, so it uses inexpensive polarized (passive) glasses to produce flicker-free 3D HD images. A passive 3D system is very important for the SRC’s ongoing 3D plans. According to Brett Seymour, SRC AV production specialist, the center will eventually design and distribute its own branded paper 3D glasses, which will provide students with a souvenir of the experience.

Students love 3D content because it engages them, Seymour said, and the use of special 3D glasses give them a feeling of active participation. “3D also provides a ‘wow’ factor, which is great,” he added, but the SRC avoids 3D gimmicks in its videos. “We are using 3D to bring a new dimension to the underwater world of the National Park Service.”

Two of the SRC’s GD-463D10U monitors are housed in JELCO RotoLift shipping and display cases, which easily raise the monitors for presentations and safely stores them for transport. Seymour said the combination of the JVC monitor and transport case has provided an easy, portable solution that has allowed the SRC to share its 3D video footage at conferences, diving trade shows, and classrooms.

Currently, the SRC is working with the AIVL at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution on three projects. Shooting is complete on Alien Invaders, an educational look at invasive underwater species found in Lake Mead National Recreation Area in Boulder City, Nev. The video, designed to fit fifth and sixth grade science curricula for Clark County, Nev., is currently in post. Another video, which provides underwater 3D HD footage of the USS Arizona Memorial in Honolulu, will start post production this summer.

A third project offers a sample of the underwater wonders throughout the national parks. The main video will provide highlights from various locales, but the SRC will also produce park-specific 3D presentations for visitor centers. Shooting is scheduled to continue over the next seven months, and Seymour expects to post the project next spring for a Fall 2011 release.

The AIVL at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution maintains a suite of 3D camera rigs for in-air and underwater use – and owns several GD-463D10U 3D monitors that are used for mobile presentations and internally for reviewing footage. Most of the AIVL’s 3D content is recorded on dual Sony SRW-1 HD portable digital video recorders. Several playback systems require ingest of 3D material before it can be reviewed, but the JVC GD-463D10U allows the AIVL to review its footage in real time without going through a computer system.

“We wanted to have a large passive display for reviewing 3D imagery and also for 3D presentations on the road,” said William N. Lange, AIVL research specialist. “The monitor had the capability to work with existing 3D infrastructure that we had. It’s become an easy way for us to do field presentations as well.”

Lange said the AIVL tried 3D systems based around active (shutter) glasses, but found that passive 3D systems are better suited for their work. “You don’t have to worry about batteries or sync,” he explained. “We can’t really worry about that in the lab environment or the classroom environment – or during a live field recording event. A passive system lets us share our 3D experience with a much larger audience.”

The SRC already owns three GD-463D10U 3D monitors, and Seymour anticipates the agency will purchase will at least another three units in the next year. Some national parks might also invest in their own JVC monitors to display 3D content for visitors.

Seymour noted the GD-463D10Us are not exclusively used for 3D footage by the SRC. One monitor is kept in his edit bay for playback of 2D and 3D content, and the mobile units are often used to display PowerPoint and other 2D materials during presentations. “It’s been a solid monitor for us,” he said, “with great resolution and great color reproduction.”

ABOUT THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

The mission of the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) as stated in the National Park Service Organic act of 1906, (16 U.S.C.1.) is "...to promote and regulate the use of the...national parks...which purpose is to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wild life therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations." www.nps.gov.

The NPS Submerged Resources Center provides direct support to NPS superintendents and partners responsible for stewardship of submerged resources, and it enhances and facilitates public appreciation, access, understanding, and preservation of those resources. For more information, please contact Brett Seymour at brett_seymour@nps.gov or visit www.nps.gov/submerged.

ABOUT WOODS HOLE OCEANOGRAPHIC INSTITUTION

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution is a private, independent organization in Falmouth, Mass., dedicated to marine research, engineering, and higher education. Established in 1930 on a recommendation from the National Academy of Sciences, its primary mission is to understand the oceans and their interaction with the Earth as a whole, and to communicate a basic understanding of the ocean’s role in the changing global environment.

The Advanced Imaging and Visualization Laboratory, at WHOI, specializes in the design and development of imaging systems for the acquisition of scientific and educational imagery from the world’s most hostile environments, including those found in the deepest parts of the world’s oceans. For many years, AIVL has been a leader in the development of cinematography quality 2D, 3D, HD and hyper-definition camera systems for both terrestrial and underwater applications. The lab has developed a suite of small, easy to operate underwater stereoscopic 3D camera systems as well as many 3D camera rig designs for use in terrestrial and underwater film making applications. For more information please contact William N. Lange, Wlange@whoi.edu.

ABOUT JVC U.S.A.

Headquartered in Wayne, New Jersey, JVC U.S.A. is a division of JVC Americas Corp., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Victor Company of Japan Ltd. JVC distributes a complete line of video and audio equipment for the consumer and professional markets. For further product information, visit JVC’s Web site at http://pro.jvc.com or call (800)582-5825.

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