3D TV

LG will be unveiling the “world's largest 3D Ultra Definition TV” at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January. The 84-inch television has 8 million pixels, giving it four times the resolution clarity (3840 x 2160) of existing Full HD TVs. The television also utilizes LG's “Slim and Narrow Bezel Design,” which the company feels gives viewers “the most convincing 3D viewing experience currently available outside a movie theater.” Read More

When it comes to producing 3D TV content, the more cameras that are used to simultaneously record one shot, the better. At least two cameras (or one camera with two lenses) are necessary to provide the depth information needed to produce the left- and right-eye images for conventional 3D, but according to researchers at Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute for Telecommunications, at least four cameras will be needed if we ever want to achieve glasses-free 3D TV. Calibrating that many cameras to one another could ordinarily take days, however ... which is why Fraunhofer has developed a system that reportedly cuts that time down to 30 to 60 minutes. Read More

Philips has been teasing us with the promise of the 58-inch 3D capable Platinum Series Cinema 21:9 TV since IFA 2010, but the company finally looks set to deliver. Showing off the new set at IFA 2011, Philips revealed plans to launch the cinema-proportioned TV in September. The Platinum series boasts an ultra-wide 21:9 (2.39:1) aspect ratio and 2,560 x 1080p pixel resolution panel. Read More

New models of televisions are certainly plentiful at IFA 2011, but one of the stand-outs so far has been the German-made Metz Primus 55 3D Media twin R ... evidently, they couldn't just call it something like the Trinitron. The long-named TV is able not only to show 3D content, but can also convert 2D content into 3D. Additionally, it has a built-in digital recorder, it can record to USB drives, and it can display film, photo and music files from an unlimited number of other digital devices in its users' home. Read More

Toshiba has announced details and a release date for its new flagship 55ZL1 HDTV. The new model will be the first to be powered by a new CEVO-ENGINE, which replaces the company's Cell-powered models. The CEVO-ENGINE is essentially a stack of Cell multicore processors in the form of a seven-core processing unit that provides the processing grunt for such features as 2D to 3D conversion, 3D depth control, HDD video recording, Auto Calibration, and a face recognition feature that will switch to your personal settings after identifying you using the 55ZL1's integrated camera. Read More

When a new technology comes on the scene it often sparks a format war. It's logical that the big players will push their proprietary technology as the market standard so they can recoup some of the money they've spent on R & D. It happened with Beta and VHS, HD-DVD and Blu-ray and more recently with active-shutter glasses for 3D TVs. Now Panasonic has teamed up with XPAND, the company behind a line of Universal 3D glasses, to create a new "universal standard" for 3D active-shutter glasses called M-3DI. But although there are a few companies on board, a number of big players are yet to sign up. Read More

Anyone who thought making the switch from their old 4:3 analogue TV to a 16:9 widescreen digital model would mean the end of unsightly black bars at the top and bottom of the picture will likely have discovered otherwise – particularly if they also picked up a Blu-ray player along with the new TV. With most movies filmed in the wider 2.35:1 or 2.40:1 and many of these now available on Blu-ray, cinephiles are once again faced with the choice of viewing the entire image with black bars, or zooming or stretching the image so it fills the entire screen. The new Cinema 21:9 Gold Series LED TV from Philips solves this dilemma with its 21:9 aspect ratio allowing widescreen movies to be displayed in all their glory. Read More

Japanese company Sanwa has recently announced that its new 400-3DGS001 3D glasses are compatible with multiple brands of 3D televisions, such as Sony, Panasonic, Sharp, and Toshiba. While the glasses aren't truly "universal" they are a step in the right direction, reminding us that a day may come when we have multiple 3DTVs in our homes. That day is probably a long way off, but we're glad that at least someone is planning ahead! Read More

The sales of 3D TVs haven’t exactly set the world on fire despite the considerable marketing push by manufacturers. The scarcity of 3D content is one of the major reasons as is the fact that many consumers balk at the thought of wearing (and buying) the glasses required to produce the 3D effect. Various companies are working away on glasses-free 3D but Toshiba is the first to release a 3D TV that works without having to don dedicated eyewear – however there are a few limitations. Read More