Basic 3D video FAQs

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Question - How is the 3D effect created?

Answer - Separate images are displayed intended for viewing by the right and left eyes. In a movie theater the right and left images typically are projected with different polarization of the light and the audience must wear glasses with polarized lens to allow the correct stream of images to reach the intended eye

Question - What's different with this 3D technology as compared to previously consumer 3D solutions that used glasses with colored lens?

Answer - Anaglyph images viewed with glasses using colored lens first became popular to the 1950's and is an inexpensive method to display 3D content with existing TV and video sources (all DVD, Blu-ray and broadcasts that are in 3D up until now have used the anaglyph technology for creating the 3D effect). However, it produces poor results when trying to view video in color and is subject to "crosstalk" between the images intended for the right an left eyes. The new 3D technology being introduced for home theater in 2010 is expected to provide results on a par with what you will see in your local digital cinema with feature films such as Avatar. Depending on the type of display used, there are two different technologies that may be used to separate he images intended for the right and left eyes. With either of the following alternative technologies, the full color content of the original video program remains unaltered, however the displayed image will appear to not be as bright as when viewing standard 2D television program on that same HDTV. Note these are alternative display technologies and do not directly relate to how the 3D video source (i.e., Blu-ray 3D player, Directv receiver, cable TV box) will output the 3D video information.

    * Sequential imaging will alternate the right and left images on the HDTV's screen with each the right and left image stream displaying (at least) 60 images per seconds - 60 Hz (i.e., 120 images per second total are being displayed counting both the right and left image streams). The viewer must wear special active LCD shutter glasses* that will allow only the images intended for the specific eye to the visible to that eye. The LCD shutter glasses accomplish this by alternating which LCD 'lens' of the glasses is clear vs. opaque. In order to reduce/prevent visible flicker in the displayed image, the image stream for each eye needs to be diaplayed with a refresh rate of at least 60 Hz, with each LCD 'lens' of the glasses cycled between opaque (to block light) and clear (to pass light) 60 times per second. The vast majority of consumer 3D HDTVs are expected to use the sequential imaging technique in combination with LCD shutter glasses.

    * The light from the display (e.g., projector) will be polarized different for the right vs. left images and the viewer will wear simple passive glasses with polarized lens. Typically* both the right and left images are displayed at the same time.

    *Note: Although not as common an approach, it is possible to also use sequential imaging with polarized light techology by baving the display device switch the polarization for alternating video frames and thus allowing polarized lens glasses to be used by the viewer.

Question - Can I use my current HDTV for displaying the new 3D movies?

Answer - Generally you will need a new generation of HDTV display that has additional features required to support 3D. The recently approved alternative formats for Blu-ray and broadcast 3D (as defined in the HDMI 1.4a specification) requires the 3D capable HDTV to decode the 3D video information then process this video to put it into a format appropriate for that specific display. No pre-2010 HDTV is compatible with any of the new 3D formats and only those 2010 models specifically listed at supporting 3D video will be compatible and even then until models appear that are listed as supporting HDMI 1.4a we cannot be certain the a given 3D HDTV does in fact support all of the 3D formats that may be used by various 3D sources over the next few years. The only pre-2010 HDTVs that may be "upgradable" for use the new 3D technology are recent models of DLP rear projection HDTVs manufactured by Mitsubishi and Samsung and certain Samsung plasma models sold as 3D ready. Even with these existing "3D ready" models the manufacturer will need to offer an adapter box, for use with these specific HDTV models, that will take the 3D signal from the source device (e.g, Blu-ray 3D player) and apply video processing to put the 3D video into a different format that is compatible with those 3D ready models. Mitsubishi has announced plans to offer such an 3D adapter box. ------ Even if you have computer display with will accept an input of 1080p at 120Hz, that is compatible with 3D video games and computer graphics, these displays will not be directly compatible with the new 3D video sources for Blu-ray 3D and 3D broadcast video. Most such displays work by either requiring the input to be in the format of alternating right and left image frames (or right and left fields in a 1080i mode). Each 3D source device is only required to support one of the allowed (by the HDMI 1.4a spec.) 3D formats (i.e., the one that is most appropriate for that source). These exisint computer displays are simply not compatible with the 3D formats declared as "mandatory" by the HDMI 1.4a spec. for compatible 3D displays. Specially, such displays would require an external video processor box to accept any of the mandatory 3D formats as the input and the convert these to a format compatible with the specific display device. No such converter boxes have been announced yet.

Question - Will the same 3D glasses work with different brands of 3D Displays?

Answer - There is no "standard" for the 3D glasses and there will be manufacturer specific variations in the LCD shutter glasses offered by the various manufacturers for use with their 3D displays. Some of the 3D glasses may work with another manufacturer's 3D display but even if it does you may not be getting the optimum performance. Eventually there will probably be several 3rd party manufacturers that market universal 3D shutter glasses that can be configured to work well with the 3D displays from the various display manufacturers. HERE is the link for the first such universal LCD shutter glasses that have be announced (mid-2010 availability). For those few consumer 3D displays that will require polarized lens glasses. there are only a very few configurations possible and while one manufacturer's polarized 3D glasses may not work with another specific manufacturer's 3D display, compatible models from 3rd party manufacturers will be available (some already are - HERE is one example).

Question - Can I use my current Blu-ray Disc (BD) player to play future 3D movies released on Blu-ray?

Answer - The only existing Blu-ray Disc player expected to upgradable to support 3D is the Sony Playstation 3 (Sony has announced a planned upgrade to the PS3's firmware). Existing stand-alone BD players will play back the new 3D discs as standard 2D titles. Thus movies released as 3D titles on Blu-ray will be backward compatible with existing players, but a new player will be required to output the video in 3D. Several consumer electronics manufacturers are introducing 3D enabled Blu-ray Disc players in 2010. Samsung's and Panasonic's first generation Blu-ray 3D players are now starting to show up at retailers. Sony is selling new 2010 models that are "3D ready" and will support Blu-ray 3D once a firmware updated is installed (i.e., update to be available in mid-2010).

Question - When will 3D enabled HDTV displays and Blu-ray Disc plays become available"

Answer - The final specification of the 3D version for Blu-ray Discs was just completed in December 2009 and the HDMI 1.4a specification was just released (March 2010). The new generation of 3D enabled Blu-ray Disc players and compatible HDTVs (flat panel and projectors) from many of the major consumer electronics manufacturers are expected to be making their way to dealers by mid-year 2010 while the first few models will be appearing as early as March 2010 from manufacturers such as Panasonic and Samsung.

Question - What are the mandatory 3D formats that are defined by the HDMI 1.4a specification and what devices must support them?

Answer - The HDMI version 1.4a specification was released on March 4, 2010 and includes a section on "Extraction of 3D Signaling" that defines the 3D formats that are mandatory for 3D displays. Any 3D display that claims to be certified to HDMI 1.4a must support all of the mandatory 3D signal formats at their HDMI input then internally apply video processing to put the 3D video into a format appropriate for that specific display. The input HDMI format is independent of how the specific display decides to actually display the information. Therefore, the 3D video source (e.g., Blu-ray 3D disc player) is not expected to adapt its output signal format to the capabilities the connected 3D display nor is the 3D source device required to support more than just one of the approved 3D signal formats. On the other hand, the 3D capable display is expected to accept the 3D video in any of the mandatory 3D signal formats allowed by the HDMI 1.4a specification. Below is a brief summary of the mandatory 3D video formats that are defined by the HDMI 1.4a specification. There are 3 basic formats defined (in table 8-15 and associated figures and text of the HDMI 1.4a spec.) and then there are specific resolution and frame rate variations allowed under each.

    Frame Packing - (Blu-ray 3D required format)

        * full 1080p resolution for each right/left images with refresh rates of 23.98/24 Hz.

        * full 720p resolution for each right/left images with refresh rates of 59.94/60 Hz. or 50 Hz*

            Note: Frame Packing essentially places two full resolution HD images into one "super sized" frame for transmission across HDMI. When used for 1080p, the right and left images are placed one above the other into a "super sized" frame that is 2205 pixels vertical by 1920 pixels horizontal with a 45 x 1920 pixel active blanking area separating the two images. More information is HERE)

    Side-by-Side - (example use - satellite or cable 3D broadcast)

        * half horizontal resolution 1080i (i.e., 960h x 1080v pixels) for each right/left image with refresh rates of 59.94/60 Hz or 50 Hz*.


    Top-and-Bottom - (example use - satellite or cable 3D broadcast)

        * half vertical resolution 1080p (1920h x 540v pixels) for each right/left images with refresh rates of 23.98/24 Hz.

        * half vertical resolution 720p (1280h x 360v pixels) for each right/left image with refresh rates of 59.94/60 Hz or 50 Hz*.


    * NOTE: All 3D displays conforming to the HDMI 1.4a spec. must support 23.98/24 Hz refresh rates where listed above. However, displays are only required to support either 50 Hz. (e.g., Europe) or 59.94/60 Hz refresh rates (e.g., North America).