The Simplifydigital guide to 3D TV

3D TV is set to be the next big thing in digital TV after HDTV (high definition TV). The success of the movie Avatar in 3D has really brought the potential of 3D back into the limelight for consumers, but the digital TV and consumer electronics industry has been working to make 3D TV the next big thing for several years.

What is 3D TV?

3D TV (or 3DTV) is exactly as the name suggests the broadcast of full 3-dimensional images through a 3D Ready TV screen in your home. The 3D TV service requires four things to work:

• 3D content (either original 3D content or 2D content upgraded to 3D)
• 3D broadcasts via a 3D TV channel (Sky will launch Sky 3D, Europe's first dedicated 3D TV channel in the UK later in 2010)
• a 3D Ready TV set. New 3D-Ready TVs launched in the UK market in the Spring of 2010. All the major TV manufacturers are involved and 3D Ready TV's will be available from among others: Sony, Panasonic, LG and Samsung.
• and 3D glasses through which to watch. The 3D specs are super-cool - looking much like designer sun-glasses. The type of 3D specs the viewer needs varies depending on the format of 3D being shown (see below)

3D TV formats

Here is our quick guide to the various 3D TV formats that are out there. A basic understanding of the various 3D techniques is very helpful when making your choice of 3D TV equipment. There are in fact several ways to generate and show 3D moving pictures. The most common of these 3D technologies are:

• Analglyphic 3D which uses passive red-cyan glasses
• Polorization 3D which uses passive polarized glasses
• Alternate-frame sequencing which uses active shutter glasses/headgear and
• Autostereoscopic displays which do not require 3D glasses

Analglyphic 3D is the "old fashioned" 3D technology that we all remember from our childhood, whereby you wear a pair of red and green (usually cardboard) glasses. It is not the favoured 3D technology currently.

Alternate frame sequencing is a recently developed 3D technology which delivers very good quality 3D images, but suffers from the complexity and cost of the required 3D active shutter glasses. Hence the most popular 3D technology currently is the polarization 3D technique, adopted by Sky in the UK, which uses cheaper polarized glasses to create the 3D image.

This technology works with the 3D-Ready TVs currently on sale worldwide from Samsung, Sony, LG and Panasonic.

Why is 3D TV gathering momentum now?

3D TV is causing a huge noise globally in technology circles. It was the star of the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, which is the "super-bowl" of consumer electronics shows worldwide. Shawn DuBravac, research director and chief economist for the Washington DC-based CEA notes: "3D in the home is far and away one of the biggest stories at CES this year," "We have been talking about 3D at CES for many years, but this year we are taking the next step ... we are seeing products that are ready for market, real products with real prices and release dates."

The reason is that there has been a confluence of 3D related events which is finally putting a real momentum behind 3D TV globally. Sky in the UK has long been preparing for the launch of 3D TV, and is busy test broadcasting in 3D, ready for the launch of Sky 3D, the UK's first 3D TV channel later this year. Sky digital TV customers with Sky+HD boxes, will be able to receive the new 3D TV service, but they will need to buy a 3D-Ready TV. So Sky has been pushing HD TV for a while, but the news is also that DirectTV - a similar digital satellite TV provider in the US, also plans to introduce a 3D TV channel in 2010.

What's more, ESPN will start broadcasting in 3D TV this summer. And Discovery, Sony and Imax have also got in on the 3D TV act, with their announcement for a joint venture that will roll out the first dedicated 3D television network in the US next year. This frenzy of 3D TV activity has been made possible by an agreement of 3D TV standards which has precipitated the arrival of 3D Ready TVs and related 3D hardware (Blu-ray players and PS3's are to be capable of playing 3D discs). And also a commitment by 3D content creators, spurred on by the success of the movie Avatar, to develop 3D TV content. Both Disney and DreamWorks Animation have announced plans to develop future animated content ideas in 3D. In essence - the entire industry is now pulling in the same direction, and that is, behind 3D!

So how can UK digital TV viewers watch in 3D TV?

The only choice for UK 3D TV fans will be Sky for the foreseeable future. Sky+HD customers will get access to Sky 3D, Sky's new 3D TV channel which will start broadcasting a range of sports, movies, factual and drama in 3D, later this year. 3D fans will also need to get their hands on a "3D Ready TV" with which to watch the 3D TV channel. 3D Ready TV's launched in the UK earlier this year. There will be flat screen 3D Ready TV's available from Sony, LG, Panasonic and Samsung among others.

When will the 3D TV become mass market?

Despite this optimism behind 3D TV, much of which is fuelled by the huge global success of Avatar, which has taken over $640m at the global box office, there is much debate as to how long it will actually take for 3D TV to become mass market.

Sony for example does not believe that the "explosion" in demand for 3D TV will happen until 2012. Sony's chief marketing officer Mike Fasulo told Business Week: "We don't expect to see an explosion of 3D in the home until the 2012 time frame." This is despite the fact that Sony's arch rival LG has set a sales target of 400,000 3D-ready TV sets globally in 2010, rising to 3.4 million in 2011. And the pundits predict that about 4.3m 3D TV sets will be sold in the US this year alone and by 2013, 25% of all digital televisions sold in the US will be 3D Ready.

Sony forecasts that 50 per cent of its total digital TV shipments will be 3D-ready models by the financial year ending March 2013. It also intends to add 3D capabilities to the PlayStation 3 console and other consumer products in its range. The success of 3D TV in the UK is clearly also in the hands of the digital TV platforms such as Sky and Virgin Media, who need to actually broadcast 3D TV content.

Sky still sees 3D TV as niche in 2010. So Sony's prediction seems correct for the UK market. 2010 and 2011 will be the years of high definition TV (HDTV) and 3D TV is likely to move mainstream thereafter.