The Geek Church

The use of 3D has become a very popular marketing gimmick in selling any product imaginable from movies to high-definition television sets.  One example of this, of course is James Cameron’s most recent hit film, Avatar.  Since this movie’s release, other film makers have felt the pressure to follow suit by using 3D effects as well.  3D HDTVs also exist now and are currently available for any consumer who can afford them.  However, a new product may be coming soon in the next few years: 3D HDTVs without the need for glasses.

The concept of this new product still in development is called autostereoscopic 3D.  This concept will become possible by combining two technologies known as the 3D video codec and the plasma/LCD display.  Experts predict that this new development could be available in stores in about five years.  Of course, such a product would make current 3D HDTVs out of date and forgotten since they still require the use of glasses to get the 3D effect.

Currently, 3D effects are possible for HDTV through an extension of MPEG-4 H.264 AVC called MVC (Multiview Video Codec) and this technology combines two simultaneous views in HD.  One view is for the left eye and the another is for the right eye.  Then active shutter glasses are used to complete the effect of 3D perception.  However, a new version of MVC called MVD (Multiview Video Depth) which uses extra data for multiple views and additional, depth layers would render the use of glasses obsolete.  With a screen resolution of ultra HD 4K, which displays about 8 million pixels, the 3D effect is possible without glasses.  Current HD screens only have a resolution of 2 million pixels.

One thing is clear, 3D HDTVs without glasses are coming and they could hit stores in half a decade.  Personally, I have to wonder how affordable they will be when they arrive.  Current 3D HD sets don’t come cheap as it is in most stores.  Time will tell how popular this product will be when it makes its inevitable debut.

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Tags: 3D HDTV, autostereoscopic, glasses

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 4th, 2010 at 9:59 pm and is filed under Video gadgets. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.