The Hunan government has signed an in-depth technical cooperation contract with Peking University to launch the first 3D TV service in China, according to a report in the Xiaoxiang Morning Post.

Trials of a new set top box, Vasdaq.TV, will take place in Hunan Province. Using Vasdaq.TV viewers will be able to browse the Internet and make video phone calls, as well as watch TV. And if they have a 3D TV, they will be able to watch 3D channels.

The technology will be jointly developed by Hunan Cable TV Network (Group) Co. Ltd and Peking University. They will also co-develop the China Chip's application on the radio and television networks, as part of China's tri-network integration project.

Zhou Qifeng, President of Peking University and Guo Kailang, vice governor of Hunan Province attended a signing ceremony of the cooperation agreement.

The aim is to set up a national experimental laboratory to develop 3D technology and 3D games applications on cable TV networks, and support the government in establishing standards for 3D technology.

To watch 3D TV, viewers will have to buy a 3D TV and a Vasdaq.TV set-top box.

"Vasdaq.TV is like a micro computer. But we will keep the cost of upgrading an ordinary TV to Vasdaq.TV to less than 1000 yuan," Zeng Jiezhong of Hunan CATV Network Group said.

The Vasdaq.TV looks like an ordinary set-top box but includes a "China chip" microprocessor. It combines the functionality of a PC with Digital TV Broadcasting. It was developed by the Peking University Microprocessor Development and Research Center.

The Vasdaq.TV would allow a viewer watching the movie Inception, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, for example, to look up other films that DiCaprio has acted in by opening a web browser. A simple Internet search would reveal he was also the star of Titanic.

A limited number of Vasdaq.TV boxes will be produced in the first half of 2011. The boxes will be trialed on the Hunan cable TV network and eventually rolled out nationwide.