3D HDTV Technology Shows Promise While Threatening Normal HDTV
While it's generally agreed that High Definition Television is the TV technology
of the future, there is an even more advanced type of technology on the
horizon that could eclipse it! This technology is 3D HDTV.
3D HDTV has a picture resolution that's similar to the resolution of an HDTV
set, but it's also capable of producing images that appear in three dimensions.
In fact, these devices can give viewers the impression of being surrounded by
images. For example, one reviewer who experienced a demonstration with a
prototype of this kind of HDTV set described butterflies and flower petals flying
out from the screen towards him for a very realistic effect!
Of course, 3D video technology isn't really anything new. In fact, 3D movies
were popular decades ago, but they had the disadvantage of requiring that
viewers wear special glasses with polarized lenses in order to provide the
illusion of a three dimensional picture. The technology that 3D HDTV is based
on is different. A 3D HDTV screen actually displays different images at
different angles. That way slightly different images will enter each of the
viewer's eyes and provide the illusion of depth. The more different angles of
an image that the TV displays, the more realistic the three dimensional effect.
Naturally 3D HDTV technology is not without its problems. For one thing,
creating a TV screen that can display several different angles of the same
image at once- while projecting them in different directions- is quite a feat.
One thing that adds to the complexity of this problem is the fact that the more
distinct angles of the image that the TV can display, the more realistic the
effect is. This is particularly true when people are moving in front of the
screen. The fewer distinct angles that the image is displayed in, the more
likely the image is to appear choppy to someone passing in front of the TV
screen. With only a couple of different angles, the viewer is less likely to catch
them while moving and looking at the screen.
Fortunately the latest models of these 3D HDTV sets are able to display their
images in enough angles to provide a pretty realistic effect under a variety of
conditions. This is especially valuable because of the fact that 3D HDTV's are
mainly marketed as ways for businesses to get the attention of potential
customers in public spaces.
While there are functioning prototypes of 3D HDTV displays, they're extremely
expensive at a cost of over twenty thousand dollars to produce! While this may
seem like a lot, the enthusiasm of early adopters is expected to drive the price
down rapidly to the point where they could be widely available- and mostly
affordable- within a few years.
During that time frame, the bigger problem will be finding content to display on
3D HDTV sets. While it may be somewhat surprising, there is already
progress being made on this front. For example, Steve Spielberg is working
on a movie in 3D, as is James Cameron. There is also software being
developed that has the promise of converting two dimensional HDTV
programming into three dimensions.
This fascinating technology could make HDTV obsolete just as it seems to be
getting off the ground.
J. Hall writes articles about the latest developments in technology, electronics, and television. She'd like to inform you about the latest <a href="http://www.dishpronto.com/dish-network/" target="_blank">Dish Networ Deals</a> and how you can find the best <a href="http://www.dishpronto.com/" target="_blank">Dish Network Specials</a>.
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