Montreal, Canada-based Sensio Technologies Inc. has reached a license agreement with Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd to allow Samsung to legally use the Sensio S2D Switch technology inside next-generation 3DTV sets. Samsung is the largest manufacturer of 3DTV sets worldwide. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
Sensio’s patented S2D Switch allows consumers to switch the 3-D viewing mode of a program to 2-D or between different 3-D viewing modes. It supports the most popular frame-compatible formats covered by the HDMI 1.4a specification, including: side-by-side (SbS), top-and-bottom (TaB), checkerboard and Sensio Hi-Fi 3D.
Nicholas Routhier, President and CEO at Sensio, said he expects the Samsung agreement to positively influence ongoing negotiations with other TV manufacturers that have deployed or are considering integrating its S2D switch technology.
“It’s the most lucrative licensing deal that we’ve signed so far," Routhier told the “Montreal Gazette,” adding that securing the deal was tricky because Samsung was already using the switching technology without paying Sensio for the patent.
“This is very exciting for us. We've been talking about this for a long time, but these deals take time to sign. Now finally, our investors and customers can see that we're not just talking.”
Sensio is still hoping to license its Hi-Fi 3-D compression technology, to Samsung and other television manufacturers. Sensio is also pursuing other screen manufacturers who are using its patent. The company also has a licensing agreement in place with 3DTV maker Vizio on both its S2D Switch feature, and its Hi-Fi technology.
In addition to distribution, SENSIO is also focused on making more 3-D content available for viewers. Later this year, Sensio will start selling 3-D programming directly to owners of televisions that connect to the Internet and use Sensio Hi-Fi 3-D compression technology. The video-on-demand service, called 3DGO!, will have more than 100 titles in its library by the end of the year, the company said.
