• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, May 21, 2010

A licensing agreement between PopBox and 3D technology provider RealD gives consumers three dimensional content on their television through an Internet-connected box in the home. The two companies plan to announce the news Friday. With 3D equipment coming online, the move could eventually give advertisers an option to reach consumers through 3D ads.

PopBox will offer a set-top box to support the stereoscopic RealD format for delivery and display of high-quality 3D content. The box ships 3D-ready at launch, so consumers can enjoy 3D content on all 3D-ready HDTVs. Existing customers can order the software upgrade through the box.

PopBox builds on the Syabas' Popcorn Hour lineup of Network Media Tanks, the Popcorn Hour A-200 and C-200. All Popcorn Hour A and C series devices will also have access to the RealD Format to enable 3D viewing.

RealD is a company that has dabbled in digital cinema for years as movie studios began making the transition to bits and bytes from reels. The Format combines left eye and right eye 3D image streams into one channel to deliver high-definition progressive or interlaced 3D video using the Internet or broadcast infrastructure, including existing PCs, HD set-top boxes and DVRs, to any 3D-enabled display type.

Alex Limberis, chief operating officer at PopBox, which began building products under its brand name in 2007, says the box relies on an embedded system from Sigma Designs. "The video processor can support the expansion to 3D and will become more future proof than other platforms," he says. "We're working with a few online video services that will allow consumers to get premium content."

The PopBox platform will be 3D-ready beginning at launch, scheduled for release within the next few months. The box makes it simple to play all the movies, music, home videos, and photos from your home PC and network-connected devices, and content streamed from the Internet on HDTV sets. PopBox is available to pre-order at Amazon.com.

PopBox isn't the only company supporting 3D. Panasonic has inked a deal with 20th Century Fox and Universal Studios to offer Blu-ray 3D movies with Viera 3D HDTVs. Blu-ray 3D versions of "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" and "Coraline" will become available soon.