Gadgetory

3d TV it's either the next big thing or the next big thing you're not going to use and along the way to that decision lies a whole lot of demystification that has to take place so let's do that and get some perspective on 3d there are three things you've got to think of tangibly when you consider 3d TV first of course is the television second the glasses and third content you need something to watch the first one is the one that costs the most and looms the largest that is the TV I've got some interesting news for you on that front there's no such thing as a 3d TV not strictly speaking all 3d TVs are actually really good 2d TVs that have an additional ability they can show 3d when hooked up to a 3d source that's typically either a 3d compatible blu-ray deck or a 3d channel on television usually on cable or satellite or even a full screen high-def 3d stream over the internet now if this story is starting to seem relatively simple you haven't met the glasses yet active shutter glasses like these basically have a little active LCD screen over each eye these darken to prevent an image from reaching your I therefore you can alternate left and right they run from twenty bucks the very least all the way up to one hundred and twenty dollars in some cases now these are passive glasses no electronics no battery is no wireless sync no LCD screens in front of your eyes they use polarizing lenses like on a pair of sunglasses to discriminate left and right information to each eye so it sounds like a no-brainer to go passive right but it's not that simple active glasses still offer the best image quality we think they're available with LCD and plasma 3d TVs but they can be kind of pricey and are typically proprietary the passive glasses show a few image issues from time to time are only available with LCD sets but they're really cheap and universal they should even work on your neighbors 3d TV well there's something else you may not have thought of when it comes to 3d TV when you have the glasses on of either technology it gets a little difficult to use mobile devices partly because of what the glasses are doing partly because of the focal length your eyes are adjusting to while watching the screen but I would also say that if you feel the urge to check email or Facebook while you're watching a 3d movie you chose the wrong movie also four to ten percent of people can't perceive the 3d depth on a 3d television and some number may report headaches or nausea off because of how the film was shot or edited now you've also heard I'm sure about glasses-free 3d TV we saw this at the Consumer Electronic Show top of 2012 but the technology is not really mature yet and the prices certainly don't make it attainable just yet okay so you get your new 3d TV home and you're all excited about it for a few minutes then you need something good to watch that's what it's really all about there are two considerations you have to have their first of all what is there to watch that you like most of us our minds go right away to blockbuster films in 3d either animated or live action and a combination of animation right now on amazon there are maybe 224 blu-ray 3d discs so the 3d blu-ray pool is really small now shop for a 3d TV was these three key criteria in mind first of all a 3d TV is not a special kind of TV it's a feature on a really good to DTV secondly there are glasses involved active or passive they've got different benefits and drawbacks and glasses-free not ready for primetime yet finally think about content what's your source going to be and how much is there to watch now or in the foreseeable future now none of this means your next TV won't have 3d ability it probably will but whether and how much you use that depends on what kinds of television you like to watch and your comfort level with this technology you