3D Vision Blog

I’ve kind of missed this announcement from Nvidia, about the availability of a 14-day trial version of their 3DTV Play Software, but they probably did not promote it well enough when it was launched (just found out about it and tried it). This is a good opportunity for everyone to test the compatibility of his 3D HDTV with the software, before actually having to buy a license for the product. The 3DTV Play software is needed to bridge the gap between your computer outputting 3D content and a 3D HDTV set that supports 3D input over HDMI 1.4 interface. Nvidia has a list of hardware that is tested and confirmed to work with their 3DTV Play software available, but that list does not yet cover all 3D-capable television sets as well as other hardware such as receivers and so on.

- Visit Nvidia’s dedicated website for the 3DTV Play 14-day trial software…
- For a list with compatible hardware that has been confirmed to work with 3DTV Play…

The new 2011 line of 3D-capable HDTV products from Panasonic will have a new top model 3D Plasma – the VT30, which should be slightly better than the current VT20/VT25 3D series from 2010. One other important thing with the new VT30 series is the fact that they have passed the THX 2D and 3D Display certification where the last year’s models were THX certified only for 2D. The new top line of 3D capable plasma HDTVs VT30 will be available in four different sizes: 42-inch, 50-inch, 55-inch and the biggest model will be 65-inch. Aside from the new top VT30 model, Panasonic will also refresh the GT25 series with a new GT30 mid-end and another new series ST30, but what is more interesting thing about the 3D-capable product line from Panasonic this year will actually be their first 3D-capable LCD HDTVs that will be available in smaller sizes than the 3D plasmas.

The new 3D LED LCD series is going to be called DT30 and will be available with two models with a size of 32-inch and 37-inch and they will be using the new fast response IPS Alpha panels developed by the company. We already know that 3D plasma HDTVs and especially the ones from Panasonic are among the products that have less crosstalk in 3D mode, making them the best choice for 3D use and 3D-capable LCD panels are not as good as the plasma in terms of crosstalk. But according to Panasonic their new IPS Alpha panels should also have less crosstalk than alternative solutions and be almost comparable to their Plasmas, and not only about the level of crosstalk, but other features as well. Here is what exactly Panasonic describes their new fast response IPS LCD panels:

To maximize the advantages of IPS Alpha panels, Panasonic has made major changes to the whole process of panel production, from the structure to the key materials used. Thanks to newly developed Advanced Pre-Charged Driving technology that achieves the fastest scanning rate in the industry of 2 ms, display speed that is twice that of previous models has now been achieved. Panasonic has developed LCD panels with crosstalk that has been reduced almost completely and allow for a solid black picture that maintains a broad gradation display. The LCD panels also feature full moving picture resolution, which enhances moving picture reproduction even in 2D display mode. The combination of reduced crosstalk and black reproducibility enables Panasonic to deliver LCD panels with clear, superior contrast, high-quality Full HD 3D pictures, almost comparable to PDPs.

But of course we are yet to soon see these new models on the market and compare especially the performance of the new 3D LCD panels to a 3D Plasma. As an owner of a VT20E 3D Plasma from Panasonic I can say that I’m quite happy with it and don’t have plans for replacing it with the newer VT30 as the difference between them should be hardly noticeable. But I’m quite interested in the new IPS-based LCD panels coming from the company, because getting 2 ms response time on an IPS panel is quite an achievement. The bad news about all PC gamers is that the 2011 product line of 3D HDTVs from Panasonic is they still remain limited to 720p 50/60Hz 3D mode and 1080p 24Hz 3D mode as all the 2010 products were limited by the HDMI 1.4a interface.

Acer is the first company that already has a 3D-capable LCD monitor with support for stereo 3D over HDMI 1.4a and this is the model Acer HS244HQ (it uses only HDMI) and will have two more models that will have stereo 3D support over both Dual-Link DVI and HDMI 1.4a – the Acer GN245HQ and Acer HN274H. This for a lot of people automatically means that they would be able to replace the need of a 3D HDTV with one of these 3D LCD monitors, but this is not entirely true. You should be for example able to connect any 3D-capable device that outputs stereo 3D content using the frame packaging method defined in the HDMI 1.4(a) specification such as a PlayStation 3 console. But you will not be able to use an Xbox 360 console in 3D mode with games that do have native stereoscopic 3D support with the reason for that being the fact that the Xbox 360 can output stereo 3D in various formats, but not in the frame packaged format. Usually the Xbox 360 uses Side by Side output and that is something that you can manually switch from a 3D HDTV, but not from the any of the mentioned above monitors as the do no have built-in support for any of these additional modes. So again, a word of warning when you are planning what to buy – a 3D HDTV or a 3D-capable monitor with support for HDMI 1.4a, based on what you are going to use it for…