Samsung Active 3-D HD Televisions

How does 3-D TV work?

3-D technology mimics how our eyes work. In essence, it is an attempt to mimic everyday life. Our eyes are spaced a few inches apart. This distance creates different viewing angles that are used to gauge distance and create depth. Our brain combines these images with the result being our 3-D world. So there is a lot of background work that needs to be done to create the view of the world, which we take for granted. This idea of using two reference points (our eyes) to gauge distance and depth is used by astronomers when they are trying to determine how far a star, asteroid or whatever is from Earth.

To mimic how our eyes work, 3-D content is filmed at slightly different angles. This is where the glasses come in. When you are wearing the glasses, 3-D content is sent to them. One image is sent to the left eye, and another image is sent to the right. These images appear very quickly and go back and forth. This tricks the brain into perceiving depth. Voila! You have a 3-D image where there was none before.

So what's the difference between Active 3-D and Passive 3-D?

The biggest difference that television manufacturers would have you know (or not) is that Active 3-D is the only one that can deliver 3-D movies in full HD. Passive 3-D can only deliver 3-D movies in 720p and sometimes less. Active 3-D gives you the best picture quality available, which you're probably going to want considering how much a 3-D TV is going to cost.

Another difference between Active 3-D and Passive 3-D is that Active 3-D can better maintain brightness when operating in both 2-D and 3-D. This is because Passive 3-D uses a layer of black lines attached to the LCD glass. This is required for viewing 3-D content in a Passive 3-D system.These black lines, as you can guess, diminish the brightness because it prevents all the light from reaching the viewer. Active 3-D has none of these lines, so all of the light is released and pictures remain brighter. These black lines also create jagged edges that people in the industry call "jaggies." Jaggies can be related to poor pixel quality, which you may have been familiar with in the past when playing video games.

Active 3-D eliminates a problem called crosstalk, or a double image that sometimes appears in 3-D when one eye sees something meant for the other eye. Because 3-D content is filmed at two different angles to simulate the distance between our eyes, making sure each angle is only seen by the eye it is designed for is essential. If your right eye sees something meant for your left eye, it ruins the illusion and greatly diminishes the quality of your 3-D viewing experience. Active 3-D eliminates this problem by using Bluetooth to deliver the images. Not only does Bluetooth make sure the right image goes to the right eye, it is also what helps Active 3-D deliver full HD resolution.

One of the biggest differences between Active 3-D and Passive 3-D is viewing angles. Passive 3-D has a much smaller viewing angle, with quality diminishing as you move to the side. Active 3-D maintains a quality image up to 178 degrees horizontally or vertically from the television. This is super important because you're not always going to be watching 3D content by yourself. Maybe you have a family or want to watch something with your friends. The point is that not everyone can cram themselves directly in front of the TV. If your living room has couches at an angle to the television, then Active 3-D's ability to project a quality image to those people is an important feature.

Where does Samsung come into this equation?

Samsung uses Active 3-D on all of their HDTVs ad Blu-ray players. Their glasses use Bluetooth and can deliver the optimal viewing experience in full 1080p. The glasses can sync to multiple TVs, so if you have a few 3-D TVs (lucky dog) in the house, you don't have to worry about having separate glasses for each television. The glasses are also prescription ready, so don't think that if you wear glasses you're being left out of the 3-D revolution. Just contact Samsung and tell them your prescription, and they will make a custom pair just for you. Bedazzling must be done yourself. Two pairs of Active 3-D glasses are included with every Samsung 3-D LED TV.

OK, so how much?

Obviously, the price of the television is going to vary depending on how large you want it to be. Generally, prices are going to start at about $2,000 and can go up to $6,000. These are base prices and do not estimate any savings you may find at a store such as Best Buy. These stores often have deals where the television might come with an extra set of glasses and a 3-D movie, or perhaps free installation and calibration.

The glasses are usually about $50 a pair. This is more than the glasses for a Passive 3-D HDTV, but that is because there are actual electronic components in Active 3-D glasses. Passive 3-D glasses are basically the same as the pair you wore in the 80s.

As for 3-D Blu-rays, assume about $30 per movie. Once again, sales will bring down these prices, but if you're looking for that new release, it isn't going to be cheap.

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Sources:

http://www.samsung.com/us/article/the-choice-for-3d-tv-is-clear-samsung-active-3d

http://news.consumerreports.org/electronics/2011/03/samsung-2011-3dtv-lineup-active3d-ultralight-bluetooth-glasses.html