Should I buy a 3D TV now?

Avatar 3D the movie…

After Avatar 3D hits the US Box office, the spectacular wave of 3D movies sends the 3D rampage worldwide. Young and old enjoy the movie with the additional dimension despite wearing 2 glasses if you are short or far sighted (your own and another 3D glasses provided by the cinema). Many are eager to jump on the wagon of enjoying 3D movies and the first thing they wish to upgrade is their 32" LCD TV, especially for those with projector TV or CRT TV. But is this the best time to buy 3D TV now? What are the concerns in buying the 3D TV besides worrying about integration with the furniture? Well, you simply cannot wait to embrace 3D technology.
Let's talk about the equipments first. Getting a 3D TV is just the tip of the iceberg. To enjoy 3D video, you need to get a blu-ray player, a true 3D TV and a 3D goggles/glasses (we will talk about the exceptions later in this blog). The best part about 3D is there is no defining standard so far so manufacturers can claim whatever they like on their products.

BLU-RAY PLAYER

Blu-Ray player is needed because high resolution video requires much storage space. Blu-Ray disk can accommodate any 3D video with ease so a Blu-Ray player is needed if you enjoy the movie.

True 3D TV

Forget about the brands because there are many junk TVs out there which are NOT True 3D. By definition, a True 3D TV should support 1920 x 1080 pixels, HDMI 1.4 and refresh rate of 120Hz. You can select from 4 technologies for TV – Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), Plasma, DLP (Digital Light Processing) and Cathode Ray Tube (CRT).

• LCD TVs are light, good for static pictures, reasonable lifespan and have many 1080 pixel models to choose from due to the recent mass production. However, they are poorer in displaying fast moving pictures, suffers from pixel failures and generally expensive for 37" or above.
• Plasma TVs enjoys a longer lifespan than LCD TV, has good viewing angles and great contrast ratios with excellent picture response. The drawbacks are they suffer from burn-in problem (that's why unsuitable to use with computers) and not available less than 37".
• DLP TVs adopts projection technology to illuminate a large screen for viewing with good brightness and colour at a good price point. But they have a high recurrent cost in maintenance and poorer in picture quality as compared with Plasma. By the way, cinemas are using DLP for the big screen with polarized glasses.
• CRT TVs can support upto 140Hz refresh rate but 3D, maybe you are talking about the sound effect. lol

Due to excessive flow of investment into LCD TVs and the preference of big screen, the market share for LCD is growing while Plasma, DLP and CRT are diminishing dramatically. Around 90% of new TVs sold worldwide are LCD TVs. That's why there are more 3D LED TVs in the market than the rest. However, many are junks which cannot meet the specifications of the True 3D. Due to the fact that we have 2 eyes, refresh rate must be doubled to 240Hz to achieve 120Hz for 3D. If you feel dizzy halfway through the movie, the LCD TV does not meet the specifications of 240Hz refresh rate. In addition, the display 3D images in interlace format, vertical 1080 lines will be halved to 540 lines. At the moment, hardware chip which can refresh at 240Hz is exorbitant priced so many LCD TVs are in fact having 1920 x 540 pixels. They are still one step away from the True 3D definition.

3D Goggles/Glasses

After much discussion about the TVs, you must be thinking 3D goggle/glasses should be the easiest equipment to buy. If you harbour this thought, you are dead wrong. Depending on the 3D TV you buy, you will need different 3D glasses because goggles also have no standards. For LCD and Plasma TVs, you need shutter glasses with batteries. The TV tells the glasses which eye should see the image being exhibited at the moment. For DLP TVs, you need polarized glasses (no battery needed). So don't buy the wrong goggles/glasses.

Other Technologies

Generally, the costs of True 3D LCD TV is around 3 times of normal LCD TVs. For high end TVs, some manufacturers are making 3D TVs without the need of wearing goggles/glasses. They may cost 6-10 times more so only a handful can afford. Other challenges include the integration of 3D googles with spectacles (50% of Singaporeans wear spectacles so I see 50% clowns inside the cinemas), the need of massive production of 3D movies and the R&D effort for a lower cost chip to power 240Hz refresh rate. Given the popularity of the movie Avatar, we hope to ride the wave to create a sensational 3D experience for all movies to come.

Final Comments

3D stereoscope is invented in 1844 while the first 3D movie (The power of love) is made in 1922. If everyone can wait for nearly 100 years for 3D technology to mature, you can wait too.