3d theater in charlotte | - Part 17

CIS is Charlotte NC's Source for 3d TV Answers!

Panasonic clears up a few important technical details about 3D.

Several Electronic House contributors have visited the Panasonic Touch the Future Tour over the past couple of weeks, and we’ve each had a different take on what we saw.

Being the staff tech nerd, I latched onto a few important technical details pulled from the tour of Panasonic‘s 2010 model lineup.

Why Active Shutter over Polarized glasses?

One bit of consumer confusion related to 3D comes from the glasses. When you go to see “Clash of the Titans” at a 3D theater or “Muppet Vision 3D” at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, you use cheap plastic glasses with polarized lenses. They’re light weight and cost less than $1 for each pair.

So why are major TV manufacturers gravitating towards heavier and more expensive active shutter glasses?

“Performance,” says Chad, the Panasonic rep on hand. “With an active shutter system, we can close off both eyes for a split second between each frame, which greatly reduces ghosting or crosstalk”.

Crosstalk is a phenomenon where an image intended for one eye is seen by the other, causing ghost images to appear. The Panasonic rep says active shutter glasses make it much easier to eliminate crosstalk compared to passive glasses where a polarized filter on the display has to switch directions for each eye.

Why plasma instead of LCD?

Another big point of consumer confusion rests in the battle between LCD and plasma. Each has its own benefits and drawbacks. Unfortunately, those differences are poorly communicated by manufacturers, especially manufacturers that produce both types. While Panasonic does produce both LCDs and plasmas, it draws a line in the sand at 42 inches; everything bigger is plasma and everything smaller is LCD.

But why is plasma particularly conducive for 3D?

“It’s all about refresh rate”, says Chad. “With LCD technology, refresh rates are limited to 120Hz or 240Hz. With Plasma, we refresh at 600Hz and greatly improve motion perception, especially with 3D content”.

While Full HD 3D maintains full resolution for each eye, refresh rate is effectively cut in half. So a 120Hz LCD offers 60Hz to each eye; a 240Hz display offers 120Hz to each eye; and Panasonic’s 600Hz plasma effectively refreshes at 300Hz for each eye.

What about 3D gaming on the big screen?

Panasonic has partnered with NVIDIA for the Touch the Future Tour. NVIDIA has been a player in 3D for some time with its 3D Vision add-on kit for 3D gaming.

“In the past, we’ve relied on 3D-capable monitors for 3D PC gaming through 3D Vision,” says Rambo Jacoby, marketing manager for NVIDIA. “Now, with our new 3DTV Play software, gamers can connect directly to 3D-capable TVs, without the need for the 3D Vision kit, using the display’s own 3D syncing and glasses.”

I checked out the Avatar PC game in 3D on a 50-inch Panasonic V25 series plasma, and I was very impressed with the effect. That said, afterwards I saw an 11-year-old playing the game with no glasses enjoying it just as much. If kids are a major market focus for NVIDIA’s 3D gaming push, they may want to reflect on how to make the improvements clear to a less critical audience.

The Panasonic Touch the Future Tour is a great event for mall-goers. If you haven’t visited yet, there are only a couple of dates and locations remaining.

This kind of event is exactly what manufacturers need to put their muscle behind to develop consumer interest in 3D and related technologies. Informed answers and hands on demos go a long way, and what I saw and heard was far more informative than any in-store demo I’ve seen to date.

by Stephen Hopkins

http://www.electronichouse.com/article/3d_faqs_from_panasonic_touch_the_future_tour/

Custom Installation Services, LLC – Charlotte and Asheville NC’s Source For Your Custom Home Electronics and Automation Needs!

Anybody who kept track of the news and highlights from CES this year knows that, as predicted, one trend dominated everything else: 3D. And since you’ll need a new TV–and glasses!–to view the new 3D movies, games and TV programs, it follows that the main TV-related announcements all centered on 3D-compatibility.

But before I get into the nitty-gritty of actual announcements, it’s worth taking a step back for some perspective on 3D. Here are a few general things to remember as you sift through 3D coverage from the show.
-The first 3D TVs should ship in “spring” of this year–likely later rather than earlier–at which time we’ll publish reviews. Until then we can’t say how they’ll actually perform in the real world. The models shown at CES were not final versions, and their picture quality in show demos is subject to change.

-The 3D TVs announced at the show are the most expensive in their respective manufacturers’ product lines, although we don’t expect them to cost much more than current high-end models. Aside from Vizio, nobody announced pricing on any 3D TVs.

-The new 3D TVs use technology that’s similar to what’s seen in IMAX 3D and other commercial 3D theaters, and it’s superior to the technology typified by the cardboard glasses with color filter lenses.

-As far as we know, there’s no way to upgrade ANY current HDTV to be compatible with the new 3D display technologies. Update: Mitsubishi announced an adapter box that would enable their current and older 3D-capable, DLP-based rear-projection models to work with 3D.

-You can watch normal TV and HDTV on a 3D TV with no problem.
For a true 3D experience, you’ll need new 3D content, whether it’s a 3D TV channel, a 3D Blu-ray Disc, or a 3D video game. No such content is widely available now, and small amounts will trickle out throughout 2010. (The first 3D TV channels will likely be on DirecTV in June).

-Not everyone can enjoy the 3D experience, and many people cannot see 3D at all or suffer headaches or other ill effects from it. We recommend anyone who’s considering a 3D TV to first watch a few 3D movies in the theater to see how it works for them. Then remember that TVs are a lot smaller.

All of the CES announcements are subject to change, and most will certainly be modified as the year progresses.

Now that that’s taken care of, let’s check out the major TV announcements.
We’ll start with Panasonic, since that company’s 3D TV, the TC-PVT25 series, scored our “Best in Show” award this year. The set includes glasses (pictured at the top) and should be among the first 3D TVs to come to market in 2010. We’re actually even more excited about the potential of its black-level performance, judging from specs and some brief eyes-on time we had at the booth, to perhaps rival that of the good old Pioneer Kuro. The step-down, non-3D G20 and G25 series models should have identical black levels as the VT25, again judging by their specs.

LG and Samsung also proffered plasmas at the show, and while only Samsung promised 3D compatibility, both included new filter technologies that used the word “black” on some models (LG PK750 and PK950; Samsung PNC8000)–so perhaps Panasonic will face a stiffer challenge than last year in the important black-level department. Notably, all plasmas announced at the show (including a 65-inch Panasonic) are Energy Star 4.0-compatible, which leads us to believe that the new blue sticker is as easy to achieve as it was under 3.0.

Scads of LCDs were announced–with numerous 3D models–but we were able to cover only a fraction of them. Every major TV maker will have new LED-based models, some in a confusing array of new backlight technologies beyond simple edge-lit vs. local dimming.

Samsung, the king of new LED/LCD technology, was mum on the specifics of its new LED system (found on the UNC7000 and UNC9000 models, among others), although we do know it relies on edge-lighting, not a full array of LEDs behind the screen as on the excellent 8500 series. The flagship 9000 models should be among the thinnest TVs available, for what that’s worth.

LG divulged more about its LED tech, and two of its models (the slick LE9500, a Best Of nominee, and the LE8500) employ “detailed” local dimming, whereas a third (the LE7500) gets the so-called “basic” variety. Sony announced a slew of models but we had time to cover only the two high-end “XBR” sets (the LX900 and HX900). One has local dimming and the other does not. Vizio’s XVT Pro models and Toshiba’s Cell TV (the third Best Of nominee) will likely bracket the price range, at the low and high ends, respectively, of the well-featured, local-dimming models available this year.
Display technology trends were augmented by scads of new interactive announcements at the show. LG and Panasonic will support Skype video/voice calls on their interactive models; Samsung will launch an App store that works “across devices,” (see the LC750 writeup for what few details we have); Netflix will be added to Panasonic’s VieraCast service (but only for 2010 models) as well as to Vizio’s new “Via” interactive service; and Vudu will launch its own “apps” on select Mitsubishi, Sharp and Toshiba models (see the current Mitsubishi LT-249 review for a taste), in addition to its standard VOD service on just about every TV brand save for Sony and Panasonic (which use Amazon VOD instead). Many interactive TVs will have built-in Wi-Fi, while optional Wi-Fi dongles will be available for most others. New input schemes, including a touch-screen remote from Samsung, a Wii-like clicker from LG, and the capability to plug in a USB keyboard from Panasonic, should make using those services easier.

Between 3D, new display technologies and the interactive TV deluge, 2010 is already shaping up to be one of the most confusing years in new TV technology yet–and that’s saying something.

by David Katzmaier

http://ces.cnet.com/8301-31045_1-10433127-269.html?tag=rtcol