[mythtv-users] OT: 3D TV

[Johnny]

>> the TV has some device that communicates with the glasses to allow
>> different frames to be shown to different eyes.
>
> Seriously? The TV sends a signal to the glasses? Meaning the glasses need
> batteries? Really? That's baaaad.
>
> Why can't they do it the same as 3D in cinemas with polarised(?) lenses?

They do it many ways. The specs for the content, etc, are separate
from the way the actual TV implements it. I don't know what the
satellite, cable, broadcast people are doing for sure. But the 3D
blu-ray spec simply sends separate frames for each eye, and the new
HDMI spec allows for two 1080p 60 fps streams (ie 60 fps for left and
right eye). So the TV will be able to implement whatever kind of 3D
tech they want. At CES there were two prominent ones that use glasses.
Some people are doing polarized glasses like the theaters do. The down
side to this is that you lose brightness when you use polarization.
Basically half the light goes to each eye rather than both eyes seeing
all the light. Most others using glasses, use LCDs (e.g. like a
calculator screen). These are obviously more expensive and have to
sync with the TV some how to black out the correct eye at the correct
time, but they let all the light in to each eye so you don't lose
brightness. Both of these technologies were competing for theaters a
few years back. You can see why they chose to go with the option that
required cheaper glasses. But they had to get much more expensive
screens and projectors to try and combat some of the loss in
brightness. There are some "no glasses" 3D TVs at CES but the seem
like very early prototypes. They have severe limitations like they are
limited to SD resolutions and viewers have to be in specific locations
for the 3D effect to work.

Like I said I don't know what the other content providers are doing
but I am sure it will be separated from the specific 3D technology
used for display. 3D displays will evolve a lot over the next couple
of decades, and there are already multiple competing technologies, so
it makes sense to just send separate left/right eye frames to the
display and let it figure out how it wants to use those to create the
3D experience for the user. There are a couple of good articles at Ars
Technica about the 3D Blu-ray spec and the 3D technology at CES:

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/2009/12/hollywood-has-been-so-enthralled.ars
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/2010/01/3d-tv-is-coming-ready-or-not.ars