3D Tv's..

[Zico]

My other half and I both popped into Currys & Comet today to have a look at what was on offer and compare them. We had a close look at 4 active models from Panasonic, Samsung and Sony and 3 of the passive models 2 LG's and a Toshiba.

Of the actives only the Samsung was set-up correctly or working well enough to even compare with all 3 passive sets.


I went in with an open mind but from what I've seen I think that active 3D is now an old and inferior technology, I was extremely impressed by the LG's and Toshiba, simply stunning!.. they were brighter, sharper, easier on the eye, had better viewing angles, didn't look like 2d cutouts in a 3D space (the £1800 active Samsung did!) and despite the argument that its only half 1080p it looked every bit as sharp a picture as the Samsung from where we were standing not to mention the fact that 2d to 3d conversion is also of a very high quality.

Thinking of treating ourselves... Anyone on here have one and would care to offer some input?

[Bolton Midnight]

Active = Betamax
Passive = VHS

be warned

oh and you'll be needing a pair of these

http://uk.oakley.com/search?Ntt=3d

[Zico]

Active = Betamax
Passive = VHS

be warned


Not exactly sure what you mean by that anology.. Passive and active TV's are not bound by formats so they can't become obsolete in the future for that reason.

[Dave B]

I'm not a big fan of 3D on a small scale. It works ok on a cinema screen but looks daft even on a 50" telly.

Apparently there's some trick the brain plays when it sees a 2D picture: it automatically compensates it so that you know the 8" tall man on your TV isn't really that small. But present it with a 3D image, the type it's used to seeing in the real world, and that compensation no longer takes place: your brain doesn't instinctively understand what it's seeing. It's the same reason (partly) that tilt-shift photos looks like little scale models to us.

If you want to go big at home there's only one answer - if your pockets are deep enough:
http://crave.cnet.co.uk/televisions/hands-on-with-sonys-new-3d-goggles-50002112/

By the way, if you do end up with a 3D screen I trust you won't be giving Comet or Currys your money! :eek:

[Bolton Midnight]

Not exactly sure what you mean by that anology.. Passive and active TV's are not bound by formats so they can't become obsolete in the future for that reason.

No just that there are passive or active, and I suspect passive will win in the long run. If you go active you need to buy the entire family expensive electric 3D specs, passive you can use the £1 jobs from the cinema.

[Zico]

I'm not a big fan of 3D on a small scale. It works ok on a cinema screen but looks daft even on a 50" telly.

Apparently there's some trick the brain plays when it sees a 2D picture: it automatically compensates it so that you know the 8" tall man on your TV isn't really that small. But present it with a 3D image, the type it's used to seeing in the real world, and that compensation no longer takes place: your brain doesn't instinctively understand what it's seeing. It's the same reason (partly) that tilt-shift photos looks like little scale models to us.

If you want to go big at home there's only one answer - if your pockets are deep enough:
http://crave.cnet.co.uk/televisions/hands-on-with-sonys-new-3d-goggles-50002112/

By the way, if you do end up with a 3D screen I trust you won't be giving Comet or Currys your money! :eek:

Watching nature programs in the store, shoals of fish etc.. its so incredibly lifelike you feel like you are right there. I haven't tried to watch a whole 3D movie with a plot on a small screen so cant really comment on that. I suppose if I find it a distraction I can always turn it off.
Yes, that Sony 3D goggles set does sound the business.. pity its not very family viewing friendly.

I wouldn't buy anything from Curries or Comet but they are handy and local to have a look at the various models, I've just placed an order for a 42" LG lw450u with Richer Sounds (Glasgow) Its a fairly basic passive 3D LED tv, It doesn't have any SMART features such as internet apps etc but I dont want/need.
Unlike Curries etc the salesman actually knew what he was talking about, answered all my technical questions and didn't try to force a 5 year extended warranty down my throat and they had best price I could find anywhere, even online.

Really looking forwards to watching F1 in 3D, It will be delivered on Friday..

[tfp]

What is an "active" 3d TV? Excuse my ignorance as I know nothing about them ;)
A mate of mine has got a 3D TV, its very impressive, and a bit wierd :) But I think it may be a novelty that may ware off, bit like a nintendo wii...

[Captain VXR]

Gaming will be awesome in 3D, imagine bombing round the Nurburgring in an Aventador or shooting a bunch of Ballas in Los Santos in a near real life depiction, flinching as bullets fly towards you etc...

[Bolton Midnight]

Haven't played one yet but there's a DSi 3D now and you don't have to wear the specs, not sure how that works mind.

[Dave B]

Watching nature programs in the store, shoals of fish etc.. its so incredibly lifelike you feel like you are right there. I haven't tried to watch a whole 3D movie with a plot on a small screen so cant really comment on that. I suppose if I find it a distraction I can always turn it off.
Yes, that Sony 3D goggles set does sound the business.. pity its not very family viewing friendly.

I wouldn't buy anything from Curries or Comet but they are handy and local to have a look at the various models, I've just placed an order for a 42" LG lw450u with Richer Sounds (Glasgow) Its a fairly basic passive 3D LED tv, It doesn't have any SMART features such as internet apps etc but I dont want/need.
Unlike Curries etc the salesman actually knew what he was talking about, answered all my technical questions and didn't try to force a 5 year extended warranty down my throat and they had best price I could find anywhere, even online.

Really looking forwards to watching F1 in 3D, It will be delivered on Friday..

Good choice with Richer Sounds, they've never let me down yet. :up:

I'd be interested in seeing how it converts F1, given that it's only a 2D broadcast. It could be possible to extrapolate a crude 3D picture from the moving image but would require a hell of a lot of real-time processing. I'd like to see the end result.

[Dave B]

Haven't played one yet but there's a DSi 3D now and you don't have to wear the specs, not sure how that works mind.

Lenticular screen. Remember those postcards you used to get in museum gift shops which would show 2 different images depending on the angle you held them? Same principle, the screen is covered with a matrix of small lenses which direct the two images to the appropriate eye giving a 3D image. It works on a handheld game because you tend to only view it from one position. The challenge is to make the technology work for a room full of people watching a massive TV or cinema screen from many different angles - there are TV sets available but you need to be sitting in one of a handful of "sweet spots" for the effect to work.

[Zico]

No just that there are passive or active, and I suspect passive will win in the long run. If you go active you need to buy the entire family expensive electric 3D specs, passive you can use the £1 jobs from the cinema.

Totally agree, passive will definately win in the long run. The strobe shuttering in active glasses gives me sore eyes/head after just 5 mins of viewing but even if it didn't, the cost of additional active glasses ranges from between £50-£75 each!
The passive 3D TV I bought comes with 7 pairs of 3D glasses and if I ever needed any more.. 50p each on ebay.




What is an "active" 3d TV? Excuse my ignorance as I know nothing about them ;)
A mate of mine has got a 3D TV, its very impressive, and a bit wierd :) But I think it may be a novelty that may ware off, bit like a nintendo wii...

Active is the term used to describe the shutter of 3D production, it's acheived by an LCD shutter blocking out the picture to each eye many times a second in alternate sequence and synched with the TV picture which also strobes L & R images at the same frequency. It seems to have more limited viewing angles, gets much more 'cross-talk' with certain viewing angles and light conditions.

Passive is what is used in 3d cinema movies, it's just polarised 3d glasses lens's and a tv picture that displays half an interleaved 1080p picture several hundred times a second for each eye to acheive the same effect and the brain puts both together to form one full 1080p 3D picture, it seems much more 3D and vivid than the cinema though. I couldn't fault it in comparison to the above.




Good choice with Richer Sounds, they've never let me down yet. :up:

I'd be interested in seeing how it converts F1, given that it's only a 2D broadcast. It could be possible to extrapolate a crude 3D picture from the moving image but would require a hell of a lot of real-time processing. I'd like to see the end result.

Apparantly it does a good job of it considering the processing challenges. From what I've read it produces more 3D depth to the picture instead of where in 3d specific productions things will pop out of the screen at you more. Should be interesting..

[schmenke]

...But I think it may be a novelty that may ware off ...

I was wondering that myself.
'Round here 3D tellys were selling like hot cakes maybe a year ago, but they don't seem to be advertised much anymore. I personally don't know anyone who has actually pruchased one.
I've never tried it, but I'm not sure I want to have to wear a pair of goggles to watch t.v. :mark: .

[Zico]

I'm not sure I want to have to wear a pair of goggles to watch t.v. :mark: .

With passive, no goggles, just lightweight glasses.. you actually forget you are wearing them.

Set it up this evening for the 1st time, watched a few blueray 3D demo's... I managed to persuade my 2 year old son to wear the glasses for a minute as we were watching the Imax deep blue sea part of the demo, a predatory pike-like fish came close to the camera.... and about 4 feet into our lounge... he was visably shaken, ripped the glasses off and ran off to the kitchen! a few mins later we managed to coax him back through to the lounge after promising him that the fish had gone back inside the TV. :D

I'm completely blown away with this TV.. we all are! It was the most impressive model in the store but we weren't sure how that would transfer to our home viewing, we needn't have worried, Standard Def is way, way, way beyond our expectations.. I suspect its upscaling to 1080p? its of such a high clarity and resolution.

2D to 3D conversion is very impressive, at the touch of a button or two it adds as much depth as you choose, If I could even begin to explain it, the closest thing I can compare it to is a bit like watching colour movies through one of these old stereoscopic viewers.

The only criticism I can make is that, although the USB slot will play ripped bluerays (MKV files) it will not play DTS audio because LG only have that function for Korean region TV's. It's not difficult to recode to AC3 sound format but it would have been nice not to have to bother. I will be investing in an AV surround sound reciever with a DTS decoder though, so not such a biggie for me.

I did a lot of homework before ordering this and its definately paid off... If you are in the market for a new 3D TV the LG LW450u should be high up there in your viewing list.. its a beast!

[Jag_Warrior]

I've been saying for about a year that when my aging Samsung HD wears out, I'll go for a 3D HDTV (though probably not a Samsung). I realize that you can never stay on the cutting edge of technology, without buying a new computer, TV, disc player, etc. every year. But it would be nice not to get stuck with a standard that dies a quick death or gets overtaken in short order.

Zico has obviously done a tremendous amount of research on the subject. So far I've just glanced at prices and basic specs. And I don't know if what I'm seeing is (truly) a good deal or not. But TigerDirect sent out an online offer a couple of weeks ago for a Mitsubishi 73", 120Hz, 1080p, 3D DLP HDTV. It's Wi-Fi ready and has 3 HDMI ports. With the $400 coupon, the price is $999.99. Is that good, bad or just OK?

I hope that I don't have to buy any sort of TV for at least another year. Though it's interesting to watch where the industry seem to be going. But to be honest, rather than focusing on the device (whether it's web connected, 3D or a new "magical" device from Apple), my main beef is that the quality of content in the U.S. is becoming more horrible and mind numbing by the day. I have no desire to watch Charlie Sheen, something called a Snooki, the Real Housewives of X or 24/7 coverage of Lindsey Lohan's legal issues on a $200 TV or a $2000 TV. I'm hoping for more international content at a reasonable cost.

[schmenke]

... So far I've just glanced at prices and basic specs. And I don't know if what I'm seeing is (truly) a good deal or not. But TigerDirect sent out an online offer a couple of weeks ago for a Mitsubishi 73", 120Hz, 1080p, 3D DLP HDTV. It's Wi-Fi ready and has 3 HDMI ports. With the $400 coupon, the price is $999.99. Is that good, bad or just OK?
...

$1000 for a 73"?! Are you kidding me?! :eek: What're you waiting for?!
You have the room for a monstrosity of that size? :erm:

[schmenke]

... my main beef is that the quality of content in the U.S. is becoming more horrible and mind numbing by the day. I have no desire to watch Charlie Sheen, something called a Snooki, the Real Housewives of X or 24/7 coverage of Lindsey Lohan's legal issues on a $200 TV or a $2000 TV. I'm hoping for more international content at a reasonable cost.

True that. The coverage of what we get here North of the border is essentially the same as in the U.S. with a sprinkling of Canadian produced shows that I think nobody watches :mark: .
Despite the dozens of HD available channels, I can count on one hand the number that I actually bother with :s

[Dave B]

...TigerDirect sent out an online offer a couple of weeks ago for a Mitsubishi 73", 120Hz, 1080p, 3D DLP HDTV. It's Wi-Fi ready and has 3 HDMI ports. With the $400 coupon, the price is $999.99. Is that good, bad or just OK?

Bad. Very bad. It's basically a projector in a (bulky) box, with all the problems that entails like terrible performance in anything but the darkest of rooms, strange geometry, and dire black levels. If you really want to go down that route you're better off spending your money on a halfway decent stand-alone projector and using a white wall as a screen of any size you like.

[Zico]

So far I've just glanced at prices and basic specs. And I don't know if what I'm seeing is (truly) a good deal or not. But TigerDirect sent out an online offer a couple of weeks ago for a Mitsubishi 73", 120Hz, 1080p, 3D DLP HDTV. It's Wi-Fi ready and has 3 HDMI ports. With the $400 coupon, the price is $999.99. Is that good, bad or just OK?

I concur with Dave B, although DLP has huge potential for 3D, stay away from anything that uses an internal projector. yes it is able to give you a huge screen size but image quality will be mediocre at best.

I did serious amounts of research.. I'm a bit anal about things like that, would hate to buy something then regret it afterwards for not doing my homework. I was seriously out of touch with regards to all the latest tech so I read up on the latest TV technologies, display types- their pro's & cons etc.
Made a list of what was important to me, ie- features, certain connections, screen size, image quality, viewing distance/position etc and put them in order of importance.
Armed myrself with a USB stick and USB2 HD with as many movie format file/sound format file combinations as I could find and visited a few stores.
Narrowed down my choices to a few models after comparing theirvarious media format playing abilities.
I used a native AV forum (US model No's differ from European versions), read all the user reviews, problems, quirks etc (I used the uk site AVForums.com - UK Online (http://www.avforums.com/) which was very helpful.)
Whitled down my options further based on what I had learned
Went back to the store for a 2nd viewing comparison and made my final choice.
I would also have used online prices to make local retailers pricematch (common in the UK) but Richard Sounds were already within £10 of the cheapest I could find.

Everyone has different priorities/opinions on what seperates a good TV from the rest. My personal findings were that.. Passive 3D is superior to active 3D in nearly all departments.. This Profesional production comparison confirmed my findings.. 3D TV Display Technology Shoot-Out (http://www.displaymate.com/3D_TV_ShootOut_1.htm)
LED backlit LCD's generally provided the best overall picture. I had considered Plasma but found their superior ability to produce deeper 'blacks' didn't seem to be matched with production material.
Another thing to consider is that although a certain dispaly size will have great performance the next size up in the range using exactly the same dispaly type, tech and firmware etc.. may not!

[Jag_Warrior]

True that. The coverage of what we get here North of the border is essentially the same as in the U.S. with a sprinkling of Canadian produced shows that I think nobody watches :mark: .
Despite the dozens of HD available channels, I can count on one hand the number that I actually bother with :s

I appreciate all the advice and opinions on the offering from Tiger. But I'm not actually considering buying any sort of TV in the near future. About an hour ago I (finally) ordered a Mac and a separate 27" Cinema Display (dual screens - yay!), so my electronics budget is totally shot for this year. There will be no iPads for Miss Girlfriend this Christmas - she MAY get a box of candy, if she's lucky.

But as you're also saying, the quality of content is the main reason why I have no desire to get another TV anytime soon. Other than the occasional movie that's (barely) OK and a TV show here & there, I watch Bloomberg and CNBC and that's pretty much the extent of my TV viewing. It would be cool to be able to speak into a mobile device (away from home) and request my TV to find and record every F1 and formula car race on my satellite and off the internet. And even better if I could watch them in 3D. Throw in some Annabella Sciorra, Michelle Pfeiffer and Salma Hayek movies and that's the kind of "intelligent" Tivo-like device that could be my "friend". It should learn who I am and find things that I would/might like. I would much rather watch an old, grainy viewing of Citizen Kane or the Godfather Part II than a crisp, sparkling 3D HDTV viewing of Jackass Part 23. I find myself actually watching more animated "kids" films than films with live actors these days... the story telling and plots are better, IMO.

But if I'm still vertical, maybe by 2014 or 2015, they'll have the sort of TV technology (and content availability) that will tempt me to offer up my credit card #.