Introduction

A 3D display is a screen that shows a three dimensional picture. A 3D picture makes for a more interesting and real viewing experience. 3D displays also have practical usages in medicine and other fields.

LG Display 23-inch 3D panels

3D display technology has been around for ages - we all remember those red/blue glasses and cool holographic pictures. In the past few years we have seen quick advances, and the TV, movie and gaming industries are betting heavily on 3D content.

Stereoscopic 3D

Stereoscopic 3D is is the 'classic' way to make 3D, actually invented in the 1830s. The idea is to provide a different image to the left and right eye and use special spectacles that makes sure that each eye gets the right image. This can be done using color-separation, polarization or fancier active-shutter LCD technology.

Active-Shutter LCD glasses is the new breed of 3D TVs and projectors. The idea is simple: you display images for the left and right eye alternatively - once the image for the left eye, and once for the right. Now all you have to do is wear glasses that block each eye in sync with the display, and you get 3D. You have to have a TV that syncs to the glasses and can switch images fast enough (120Hz is minimum) - but the image looks great. The new Avatar film uses exactly this technology!

Auto-Stereoscopic

There are also Auto-Stereoscopic technologies: in which different pixels are actually shown to each eye, using optics (lenses or barriers) to direct the correct pixels to each Eye. Using this technology, you do not need special glasses at all, but there are serious limitations here, and while some displays are already available, they are not meant to be used at home. Not yet, anyway.

Volumetric displays

Scientists are working on real 3D displays. Instead of 'pixels' there are 'voxels' - each point in space is a voxel. There are several ways to make this possible (rotating mirrors or panels, strong light projection, stacked panels...) - but it will take a long time before such displays are commercially available...

What's available today

In order to really have 3D displays (and not just color-separation style movies), you need the following products available:

• 3D Cameras to shoot the 3D content
• A 3D enabled player. A lot of companies are working on 3D Blu-ray players
• A 3D enabled TV (or projector)
• 3D glasses

Most TV makers have announced new upcoming 3D TV models that will support active-shutter 3D glasses - Sony, Samsung, LG, JVC, Panasonic, Toshiba and more. These will be expensive at first, but hopefully by 2012 or so, many cheaper models will include 3D technology.