What is 3D TV?

Is 3D TV the same as HDTV?

Yes and no! To explain, they display HD broadcasts and media the same as any other HDTV, but they have the additional feature that enables them to display 3D media whereas a standard HDTV cannot.

If you've watched 3D TV and films in the past, you've probably noticed that the images are blurry. You also have to sit there looking daft with a pair of glasses with one red and one blue lens. The new 3D technology has come a long way from there.

While it's true that you still have to wear the glasses, they're a lot more high tech and more comfortable than the cardboard frames that we used to have.

As long as the media broadcast uses the new 3D standard you can enjoy HD quality AND 3D reality on LED back-lit display screen.

What do I need to receive 3D?

You need three things to receive and display 3D reality:

3D Ready Television
3D Glasses (hi-tech)
Source material: i.e. 3D DVD film (Blu-Ray) or 3D broadcast

Old type of 3D glasses made with cardboard and colored lenses

The 3D broadcast is the bit that's easy to get confused about. In various countries around the world, as far back as the 1980's 3D media has been broadcast on TV. As recently as 2009 in the UK, Channel 4 had a 3D week, in which they showed lots of 3D films. Similar screenings have been tried in different areas in the USA. To view these films you require the cardboard spectacles with colored lenses. But that is all changing . . .

At the time of writing this article, no broadcasters are offering the 3D TV technology, although Satellite and Cable TV companies are working on making it available very soon. Trials are already in hand. It requires a lot of bandwidth, which makes it expensive and, therefore not widely available just yet. However, technology moves fast nowadays, so it's likely that it will progress quickly. So at present there is only 3D media available on DVD, Blu-Ray.

How does 3D TV work and what should I look for?

To film a program in 3D two cameras are used. They are set at slightly different angles and film simultaneously. In this respect they work exactly like our eyes do, we see the same thing from a left and right perspective.

The left and right films are kept completely separate until the film is show on the 3D TV and viewed through the high tech glasses.

Of course, this comes at a cost. It's very demanding on the TV standards that are needed to display the broadcast. Here's what the TV needs to do:

Display separate images at 1080p for each eye
A frame rate of 120 frames per minute, 60 frames per eye
A refresh rate of 100hz or more
A chip or electronics to decode or translate the left and right images
A transmitter to pass the images to the 3D glasses

As it receives the images from either the DVD or the 3D TV broadcast the TV has to decode the data into two separate sets of images, one for each eye. The information is then sent via either an infrared or a radio signal from a transmitter on the TV to the 3D glasses, this is one of the most amazing parts of the system!

3D Glasses

These glasses are truly amazing. Besides looking much better than the old, cardboard framed glasses, there is some stunning technology that runs them.

Each lens is an LCD and has a shutter that flicks across it. This is called an "active shutter" or "LCD shutter". The extraordinary thing about this is that the shutter is electronic rather than mechanical.

In response to the signal from the 3D TV the glasses alternate between showing a clear view from the left lens and the right lens. When the left lens is clear the right is blank and vice versa. All this is done at a rate of 60 images (frames) per second, per eye and your brain translates this into a 3D image.

If you were to see the left and right images together, at the same time, you would not see the 3D effect. Because your brain is so incredibly made it can translate the pairs of images being alternately shown at a rapid rate into a sharp HD 3D image.

In the past, the old 3D films could be viewed without the colored lenses. The red and green offset made them look a bit odd but you could still get the idea of the film. The major problem with the new technology is that you can only view it with the high tech glasses. Costing around $75 a pair, this adds up very quickly for the average family.

Blu-Ray 3D Players

Because of their large storage capacity, Blu-Ray disks are perfect for the huge size of the new 3D films. It takes approximately twice as much storage space as a regular HD film.

The new Blu-Ray Players have either a special chip or electronics that can translate the data and pass it on to the 3D Ready TV. At present Sony, Panasonic and Samsung have models available, others are quick on their heels.

Look out in the future for the next generation of 3D televisions that don't require glasses, they are being developed and tested right now.

How much is all this going to cost me for a 3D television and accessories?

At the time of writing a rough price guide is:

3D HDTV Television - $1,500 for Samsung LED Backlit 46"

3D HD Blu-Ray Player + film and 2 pairs of 3D glasses - $299

3D HD Blu-Ray Player - from $140

3D Glasses - from $100 per pair

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