Panasonic Corporation announced today it is establishing a Panasonic 3D Innovation Centre in Japan today to accelerate the development of its 3D business, a technology that is expected to create a whole new video culture and industry. This centre will serve as a contact point for customers related to the 3D business by coordinating the various departments within the Panasonic Group, in order to provide said customers with optimum solutions in this business. Through this initiative, Panasonic aims to achieve growth in its network AV business, one of the company's key business fields, and contribute to the expansion of the 3D industry as a whole.

In this year said to be the “First Year for 3D” and with the commercialisation of a series of 3D products for consumer use, Panasonic foresees the expansion of 3D technology not only within the audiovisual field, but also into a diverse range of industries that will include healthcare, education, and arts. Panasonic expects 3D technology will, like IT technology, serve as a key structural element expanding within a wide range of social infrastructure. With such a trend, the industry will require a wide range of End-to-End technology solutions ranging from 3D contents to device solutions. To acknowledge the movement, Panasonic’s 3D Innovation Centre will make use of the technologies and know-how cultivated up to now for a swift and targeted contribution.

This centre will exercise the comprehensive strengths of the Panasonic Group to the greatest, properly applying corporate resources and building an organisational structure in aims to supply total solutions to its 3D customers including corporations, other organisations, and specialists. It is scheduled to become fully operational on July 12th of this year, focusing its current activities within Japan.

Specifically, the centre will focus on the following three key areas:

Total coordination of the 3D business, from contents production to device solutions, to help customers create and maximize their business opportunities

Supply a production/communication/viewing workflow for 3D contents to realize a high-quality, comfortable viewing environment

Innovation in both software/hardware and systems through above activities, and also targeted marketing innovation for the benefit of the customer

The centre has been established under the control of AVC Networks Company in Kadoma City, Osaka, and will be managed by Masayoshi Fujii, Director of the Consumer & Systems Marketing Centre of the AVC Networks Company's TV Business Unit. It will be operated under a flexible management structure in close collaboration with R&D and business departments (including the Corporate R&D Group, AVC Networks Company, Panasonic System Networks Co., Ltd., and Panasonic Visuals, Inc.) that have led the industry in developing Full HD 3D equipment and contents.

In September 2008, Panasonic presented the world's first Full HD 3D Home Theatre System, consisting of a 103-inch plasma display and a Blu-ray DiscTM player, at CEATEC 2008. In February 2009, it established the Panasonic Hollywood Laboratory Advanced Authoring Centre for the authoring and recording of 3D Hollywood movies onto Blu-ray Discs. Then, in spring 2010, it led the industry in launching Full HD 3D TVs and Blu-ray Disc recorder/players. Meanwhile, the company has also developed the world's first Twin-lens Full HD 3D broadcast camera to enable economical but highly-efficient production of 3D videos. The cameras will go on sale this autumn. Thus, Panasonic has continually led the industry in promoting initiatives to establish its 3D business as quickly as possible in order to supply a more realistic audiovisual experience to its customers. Through the activities of the centre, the company will continue to promote innovation within the 3D industry in order to expand its own 3D-related business, as well as to contribute to the development of the electronics industry as a whole.

The following two activities are now being launched in Japan as part of this centre's initiatives.

1. Panasonic Authoring Centre Roppongi, a Panasonic Blu-ray Disc authoring site in Japan, will start its Blu-ray 3DTM authoring services on June 4, 2010.

2. The Panasonic 3D Camera (AG-3DA1) Seminar 2010 is open this month to help video producers learn about everything from the basics to the applications of 3D video production. (Venue: Panasonic Digital Software Laboratory, Tennozu, Tokyo)