What is a 3d TV?
There has been black and white TV, colour TV, flat screen TVs, HD TVs, but why stop there—now there's 3D TVs. A 3D TV is a television that uses 3D techniques to present DVDs or television shows in a three-dimensional field.
There are currently four different types of 3D televisions: polarization, anaglyphic, alternate-frame sequencing, and auto-stereoscopic. The first three require the use of 3D glasses, but auto-stereoscopic does not. An auto-stereoscopic TV creates a 3D world entirely within the television set. Depending on your angle, you see a different image, just as if it were real life and not on a screen at all. Unfortunately, auto-stereoscopic TVs are not on the market yet, but several companies, Sharp, LG, and Philips, are all working on it.
The new 3D TVs available employ the alternate-frame technology which requires LCD shutter glasses to see the 3D image. 3D movies in the theatre generally use the polarization method, and anaglyphic is the now outdated 3D that required the red-cyan glasses.
The 3D TVs currently on the market are 3D ready TV sets made by Panasonic and Sony, that operate in a normal 2D mode, but can also display 3D shows or movies. LCD shutter glasses are usually included with the TV or are bought separately, but are always needed to be able to view the 3D content.
There aren't that many things to watch on a 3D TV at the moment, but it is getting more and more popular. To watch something in 3D, it has to either be a DVD or Blu-Ray released in 3D or a TV show that is being broadcast in 3D. Currently, the DVDs and Blu-Rays available in 3D are the same animated movies that have been released in the theatre in 3D.
As for television channels, there have been a few all 3D channels released around the world. In Europe, the first attempt at this is Sky 3D (from British Sky Broadcasting). This channel was launched on April 3, 2010 and shows live UK Premier League football games, which can be viewed by those with a 3D ready TV, a top tier Sky HD subscription, and a Sky+HD Digibox. Late this year, Sky plans to launch another 3D channel, which will show both sports and films in 3D to their subscribers.
So, if you're looking to buy a 3D TV, you have a few options. Each are rather expensive—generally around $2000 dollars, but it's not really much more expensive than other higher end televisions. Panasonic has several models on the market, as does Samsung. You can get good 3D TV deals by shopping around online, or waiting for a big sale at an electronics store. The manufacturers are currently working on coming out with more affordable models.
Peter Simpson writes articles on
tech industry news including appliances, computing and gadgets.
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