What You Need To Watch 3D TV - Revealing a Simple Guide....

Revealing What You Need To Watch 3D TV In Your Home

The chance to experience 3D images on that most popular of home entertainment devices - your TV set - is potentially one of the most exciting developments in everyday technology that many of us have seen. So one of the most likely questions you're likely to be asking over the coming months and years is likely to be ' what do you need to watch 3D TV at home?'

In this article I'm going to cover the main elements you need to get that fix of 3D TV entertainment. We'll cover the main components which consist of the 3D TVs themselves, the sources of 3D content including 3D Blu Ray players and/or networked content streamed to your home by the 3D TV channels, along with the 3D glasses needed to 'see' in three dimensions until the manufacturers develop affordable and high quality 3D TV without glasses models. Lastly we'll need to think about any accessories that might be needed - for example special connector cables. Each of these elements is a critical piece of the puzzle that when pieced together gives you what you need to watch 3D TV at home.

3D TV Sets

It's 2011, a year that will be known in future as the year that 3D TV arrived. In order to watch 3D TV at home of course you'll need one of the specially made TVs. All of the major 3D TV manufacturers have announced new ranges for this year, with those manufacturers clearly comfortable that 3D technology on our homes is going to be seen as a must-have. And you'll have a choice of display types - plasma 3D TV, LCD 3D TV, or LED.

For all intents and purposes looking like and operating the same as the standard TVs that we all know, 3D TV sets can be watched in normal two dimensions or three. By sending specially filmed content to the screen from a 3D Blu Ray or streamed from a 3D network operator, all you need to do is add 3d glasses and that's pretty much it. Reviews of released 3D TVs to date have been complimentary in the main, though it's worth researching on some of the possible health affects. Samsung themselves have issued some guidelines for use to avoid any potential problems.

The next critical item is the 3D content source. For that we need to cover 3D Blu Ray players and 3D TV networks separately.

3D Blu Ray players

Blu Ray is the only 3D content source currently available outside of the TV networks, though 3D cameras and camcorders for home use are now beginning to filter on to the market. They'll offer another content source once they become mainstream. There's also an option to use 2D to 3D conversion software that's built into some sets - Samsung 3D TV models are an example - which of course lets you view 2D content in 3D. 3D Blu Ray players provide one of the ways of watching 3D DVD movies on a suitable home TV or monitor. Remember though that these will need to have been specially filmed or remade DVDs, you can't just take any standard DVD and watch it in 3D on your 3D TV.

You can read more about 3D DVDs on the sister site to 3DTVGuide.org which is online at www.3ddvd.net.

3D TV Networks

A number of the major satellite TV networks have plans in place for streaming 3D content to your home. Some are more advanced than others, with Sky 3D for example already having completed a trial airing of a football match in 3D to pubs in the UK. I've covered the plans of the networks who are likely to be leading the field in an article elsewhere on this site. This is one area of 3D entertainment that's likely to see massive growth over the next few years, with opportunities - particularly in sporting events and music concerts - seemingly endless.

3D Glasses

The last major element you will need are the 3D glasses which let you eyes send the images to your brain so that it can translate these into 3D. The first thing you're likely to think of is the old type of cardboard blue and red glasses, but technology has moved on a long way since their inception and now you'll be looking at either battery operated LCD 3D shutter glasses or cinema style passive glasses that automatically open and close shutters quickly to give you the 3D effects. These communicate with the 3D TV via an infrared sensor. You can get more detail on 3D glasses on the dedicated page on this site.

Other 3D Accessories

The 3D Blu Ray players need to send more information to the TV set, so the bandwidth used up is higher than for a normal DVD player. Similar to the streaming of HD content, you'll need a special connector cable between the Blu Ray and the TV. It's likely that these will be bundled with products when you purchase, but to be on the safe side this is something you'll be wise to check when you're considering whether the time is right to buy a 3D TV or Blu Ray. The alternative is to look at buying a 3D starter kit, which will contain everything you'll need.

Also the availability of 3D projectors and monitors is increasing all the time. Most of these work using active or passive technology. For active technology, active shutter glasses are required. For passive technology, you'll need polarized passive glasses.

Note that the shutter glasses supplied by 3D TV manufacturers with the sets are not likely to be compatible with either projectors or monitors that use active technology, and many glasses will actually only work with the specific manufacturers set.

As you can see, there are a number of elements to the 3D TV solution. But it's not particularly complicated, and each of the elements are rapidly dropping in price. Soon you'll be able to pick up what you need to watch 3D TV for a much lower price than last year. Price drops, along with technology and quality improvements, could well be the catalyst that pushes 3D TV into the best selling electronics item lists.