A Beginner’s Guide to … 3D entertainment
Don't know your passive display from your active glasses, then read on for everything you need to know about 3D.
COMING TO A SCREEN NEAR YOU
The cinema industry is clearly revelling in the public’s newfound enthusiasm for 3D, convincing people to go to the cinema for the full 3D experience rather than wait for the DVD and Blu-ray releases. The home-entertainment industry hasn’t taken long to catch up, though, with all the major TV manufacturers now selling 3D TVs. The movies to go with all this new home 3D kit have been slower to arrive, however.
Most of them, including Panasonic, Philips, Samsung, Sony and Toshiba, are using LCD shutter technology. Thanks to the fast refresh rates of existing plasma (and many LCD) TVs, it’s not much of a technological leap to synchronise the TV with shutter glasses, with both running at a fast frame rate to eliminate discernible flicker.
Active shutter glasses work well, but are expensive and need recharging occasionally
The glasses are much more stylish than the heavy-duty visors once used in cinemas, and only a little bulkier than the passive, polarised glasses you probably wore to watch Avatar. They’re still expensive to buy, though, costing up to £100 a pair. At first manufacturers bundled a pair or two with each set; but with 3D becoming a more common feature on high-end models, and prices getting more competitive, many manufacturers are opting to keep the price of the TVs down and sell the glasses as optional extras instead.
JVC has opted to use polarisation in its 3D TVs, while LG and Toshiba have a foot in both camps with both polarised and ne active shutter TVs in this year’s models. Because polarised glasses are cheap, the chances are that these TVs will find favour among pubs and bars showing sports events, and also with large families and anyone who’s looking forward to inviting their friends over to watch 3D TV. Bear in mind that, without enough glasses to go round, 3D TV is unwatchable because of the double image.
It’s too early to say for sure, but it looks like TVs using active shutter glasses will produce a better picture than the ones using polarisation. This is partly down to the ghosting that polarised systems exhibit, which is a problem not shared by active shutter systems. The other reason is that the resolution of polarised TVs is effectively halved when showing 3D content.