What is 3D TV?

Following the introduction of HD digital tv, the

next big thing in television is likely to be 3D TV.

So what is 3D TV and does it work?

There are several ways of creating a 3D image to

the eye. In the old days 3D could be experienced by

using coloured glasses known as Anaglyph 3D also known as Stereoscopic 3D. These glasses usually

contained a Red and a Blue glass and required the

video to project the Red and Blue colour at the same

time. The downside of presenting 3D in such a way

was that the image quality did not appear to be as

impressive as one would have hoped.

There are various other technologies under

investigation being Alternate-Frame Sequencing

(which requires active shutter classes) and

Auto-stereoscopic 3D which doesn’t require glasses

at all. There is no generic standard adopted yet,

though the technology that is currently getting

significant attention is called Passive Polarisation

– it is the technology adopted by Sky which has

come available to all Sky HD digital TV customers

as per April 2010.

How does Sky 3D TV work?

Passive Polarisation also requires you to wear glasses to merge two images together allowing the brain to create a 3D image. The technology is already supported by the Sky+ HD digital TV recorder however it does require a special TV that is able to present the TV image correctly. The image has been shot by two separate cameras, each camera represents effectively one of your eyes and gets combined to a 3D image. The great benefit of this approach is that you don’t require a new set top box if you already have the Sky+ HD digital TV recorder.