3D Television

3 Dimension TV

Introduction:
3D TV is really here! 3D sets and 3D Blu-ray players are available from several manufacturers. 3D programming (mostly via DirecTV) is available and significant sporting events are being telecast in 3D. 3D Blu-ray disks are now starting to appear.

3D Technology Overview:
We probably all realize that to view 3D (either in the theater, or in the home) that we need to wear glasses of some sort. This is needed to direct the left image to the left eye and the right image to the right eye. [Yes, there have been discussions for years of glassless (Autostereoscopic) 3D, but it will be years (even decades) until these become practical for home viewing.]

There are two basic types of 3D glasses being used today:

Polarized: Most of the 3D movie theater presentations use this type of glasses.
Active Shutter Glasses (ASGs): These are the types of glasses that will be used in most television sets.

Types of 3D Television Sets:

LCD: Announced by Samsung, Sony, Toshiba, LG, Sharp and Vizio. The Samsungs, LGs and (shortly) the Sonys are now on the market. Vizio has also announced a 65" LCD that uses Polarized glasses. (Note that this display only has 540 resolution as alternate lines use alternate polarizations).
Plasma: Panasonic plasmas are just becoming available. Samsung's new generation 3D plasma is now available. [Note that Samsung did make a few "3D Ready" plasmas (see below) that used a different 3D technology.]
DLP RPTV: Both Samsung and Mitsubishi previously sold "3D Ready" sets. (Mitsubishi still does). It is possible to hook up these sets to a PC and view 3D games & specially produced video on these sets. However adapters (announced by Mitsubishi at $99) will be needed to use these sets with the new sources. Also, these sets (as well as the older Samsung "3D Ready" Plasmas) use a "checkerboard" system which cut the resolution in half.
Front Projection: A 3D projector has been announced by LG ($10,000). This uses polarized glasses & requires a special screen. Expect other projectors (at a lower cost) to come.

For Pros & Cons of each 3D display technology click here.

3D Signal Sources:

Blu-ray: 3D Blu-ray movies are just becoming available (some are bundled with certain 3D "starter kits"). These use a new technology that will pass a full HD resolution 3D signal through HDMI to the new 3D sets. The 3D Blu-ray discs are compatible so they will play just fine on regular (non 3D) Blu-ray players. Special 3D Blu-ray players are required for 3D - but it does not look like these will be at a price premium. Sony has one out now that costs less than $200. The Sony Playstation 3 can be upgraded for 3D games. Upgrades will be available this summer so the PS3 can play 3D Blu-ray discs in 3D (note, most existing Blu-ray players will not be upgradeable to 3D).
Cable/Satellite: It is possible to send 3D pictures over cable or satellite by squeezing the Left and Right Images and putting them side by side (or one over the other). If you used a regular TV and tuned in, you would see both images. The 3D television would take these images, separate them, stretch them out into the normal 16x9 format and display them on the screen. This technique can be used by most existing HD set top boxes (a software update might be required). Unfortunately, the resolution of the picture is not (quite) HD, but reports indicate that the added depth of 3D essentially hides the resolution reduction (DirecTV claims that between both eyes a viewer will see the full resolution, half in one eye, the other half in the other).

ESPN has launched their 3D channel in time for the World Cup (carried by DirecTV and certain Comcast systems).
DirecTV has been particularly aggressive with 3D. They have just launched "N3D" (channel 103) with the sponsorship of Panasonic. This is a 24/7 3D channel with 3D programming from AEG/AEG Digital Media, CBS, Fox Sports/FSN, Golden Boy Promotions, HDNet, MTV, NBC Universal and Turner Broadcasting System. They have launched a dedicated PPV 3D movie channel (channel 104) and a 3D On Demand channel (channel 105).
The Discovery Channel has announced a full time 3D channel to launch early in 2011. Sony & IMAX are partnering with Discovery in this venture. No announcements yet on who will carry this channel, though DirecTV is likely.
TW has reserved two 3D channels (1333 & 1334) on their Guide for a limited number future 3D events starting with the July 3 NASCAR "Coke Zero 400".
Cablevision has started carrying certain hockey events in New York City in 3D. The Masters Gulf tournament did have 3D segments which were carried by Time Warner, Cox, Cablevision, and Comcast.
DirecTV and the Yes Network are planning to televise what they say will be the first Major League Baseball games in 3-D. The New York Yankees vs. Seattle Mariners games on July 10 and 11 will be aired in New York, Connecticut, Washington State, Oregon, Alaska and parts of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Montana and Idaho." Nothing specific (yet) about TW carrying it in Rochester.

Sythensized 3D: Many of the new 3D sets have circuitry to convert regular 2D material to 3D. Reports on the quality of the 3D are mixed, but at least the use of this feature is optional.

A Note about Blu-ray Compatibility:

Everything will be backwards compatible: The 3D Blu-ray discs can play on 2D players (in 2D of course). 3D television sets will display 2D material just fine. Purchasing 3D components now is a step to prevent obsolescence if 3D really takes off (it might also fizzle).

Connections:

Both the Blu-ray and Cable/Satellite approaches use HDMI connectors (it may be possible to use component connections for Cable/Satellite, but there is little reason for it). The HDMI standards Versions 1.4 and 1.4a have enabled 3D. That does not mean that you need to change your HDMI cables. The odds are that the HDMI cables that you have now are just fine.

However, if you run video through a AV Receiver, you likely will have a problem with 3D. AV receivers that do any sort of video processing just will not recognize the 3D signal. AV receivers are now becoming available that are 3D compatible (if the receiver says that it is HDMI V1.4 or 1.4a then it is compatible). There are some workarounds possible:

Run the HDMI directly to the TV and run the digital signal outputs from the 3D source(s) to the AV receiver. Of course, you won't get the new uncompressed digital soundtracks from latest Blu-rays that way.
Buy the Panasonic 3D Blu-ray player. It has two HDMI outputs, one for the AV receiver (so you can get these uncompressed soundtracks) and one for the 3D TV. Other dual HDMI output 3D BD players are likely to follow.
Another approach that may work is to use a powered HDMI splitter, running the primary output to the 3D display, and the secondary output to the receiver. Success of this approach will depend the sound data that the TV sends to the Blu-ray player and how the player responds to that. For example: If the TV says that it can only handle 2 channel PCM, and the Blu-ray player listens to that (or does not provide an override), then you would only get 2 channels on the AVR.

(Of Course) Calibration:

3D sets can use calibration, just as much as 2D sets do (well, actually they need it a bit more). We still need to address all of the issues for 2D sets. In addition, the effects of the 3D glasses need to be taken into account. They all reduce the image brightness to a considerable degree - so peak white and black levels need to be adjusted for the glasses. Most of the glasses have a tint, so the gray scale adjustments need to take that into account (keeping in mind that 2D adjustments should be maintained).

Want More Information? Check Out Our 3D Frequently Asked Questions click here

Updated 7/2/10