Pros and Cons of Three Different Display Methods For Getting a 3D Image.

| Thursday, September 8, 2011
By Eric James


The majority of the current crop of 3D LCD TVs show 3D images by displaying two slightly different pictures on screen one after the other. Active shutter glasses block the view of the eye that is not supposed to see the image by darkening the lens over that eye. Because each of our eyes see the world from a slightly different perspective our brain is deceived into thinking that the image has depth of field.

The problem with the active shutter glasses is that they are expensive. People also have different shaped faces and like to buy glasses that suit. When you buy these glasses you are kind of stuck with the one style. If they happen to not fit correctly then you have to deal with expensive and uncomfortable glasses. You will also need a TV capable of the high refresh rates that 3D requires. If you have a TV that is more than 4 or 5 years it is most likely not 3D capable. Now that you have the TV you then need to invest in some glasses. Most TV brands have their own specific models of active shutter glasses. They're expensive and if your whole family is watching the same movie then there is quite a few dollars worth of equipment sitting on your faces.

Thankfully technology moves onward and upward at a great rate of knots and new equipment is already coming into the market place which promises to solve all of these problems. New projectors and TVs are now available, albeit at a rather large cost, that use the same technique currently used in the movie theaters. Movie theaters work by projecting the image with polarized light. Each lens on the polarized glasses will only let one image through while blocking the other. As a result each eye sees a separate and slightly different picture than the other. Refresh and scan rates are not as crucial as both images are shown at the same time.

For mostly solo viewing you can purchase LCD screens for 3D viewing without glasses. The LCD screen is configured in such a way as to be able to project the two separate images in different directions so that each eye will only see one of them. The technology behind how this is done is always a closely guarded secret. A major disadvantage of this technology is that it is not suitable for a widely dispersed audience. The reason for this is that there is a sweet spot which the viewer has to be in in order to get the two images correctly aligned. If a viewer's eyes are not correctly aligned to the images then they will not get the 3D illusion.

We might not see it for a while on a large scale on big TVs but it is available as a cool 3D effect for games on the new Nintendo 3DS games system. It works for the 3DS because the unit is usually only catering to an audience of one whose view is more than likely going to be in the required sweet spot.




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