by
Phil Conner
We were pleased to
be able to review a couple of 3D TVs
lately. This provided us with an
idea of what kind of value 3D would
offer as we sat and actually viewed
a couple of hours of programming.
One obvious point to note up front.
There are differences between these
TV technologies when viewing 3D
movies and other content.
Processing
speed will be one of the
battlegrounds between these
competing technologies. Refresh
rates in LCD and LED TVs have been
increasing lately to 120Hz and 240Hz
specifications. Plasma TVs have
never really had to compete in this
area as processing speed has not
been a problem. Some plasma TV
manufacturers nevertheless list a
processing speed as 600Hz sub field
drive to give the potential
purchaser an indication of what an
applicable processing speed might be
compared to and LCD or LED TV. This
difference gives plasma 3D
technology a distinct advantage.
Some some simple
interpolation we can see that most
LCD/LED TVs will not be able to
produce full 1080p HD viewing
through both eyes. In fact one is
likely to see something in the
nature of 700 to 900 lines of
effective resolution in a 240Hz
specification LCD/LED TV. Plasma TV
technology has the processing speed
to produce all 1080p lines of
resolution to each eye.
Why does this matter
with 3D TV viewing? For the simple
reason that LCD TVs will typically
not be able to show 3D content in
full HDTV 1080p. Through some light
math and experimentation, our best
estimates come in at about 600 lines
of effective resolution capability
for a 120Hz LCD HDTV, and 700 to 800
lines of effective resolution for a
true 240Hz LCD TV. Plasma technology
has the speed to delivery the full
1080 lines of resolution to each
eye.
Does this really
matter? Not too much since 750 lines
of resolution still wallups that old
best 480p resolution (think of
progressive scan DVD).