RealD has thrown something of a 3D curveball this week, announcing that it is preparing to release Full HD passive 3D into the TV market sometime in 2011.
Currently active shutter glasses are the only technology to offer 1080p 3D visuals but RealD reckons it has found away to offer Full HD but through cheap passive glasses – the ones which make you look like an Elvis Costello knock-off.
According to RealD president Josh Greer, who was speaking at the third Annual 3D Entertainment Summit in California, revealed all about the new technology and said that RealD's licensees (Sony, JVC, Samsung, Toshiba and Panasonic) will have access to the technology next year.
There's no word on which manufacturers will take RealD up on its offer, though.
Passive technology
The Full HD passive technology uses ZScreen technology which is currently found in digital cinemas. The screens preserve the light, keeping dissipation to an absolute minimum.
It also offers circular polarisation, which blacks each eye out much like what happens in active shutter glasses – this is done by light on the screen swirling at speeds counter clockwise and then anti-clockwise.
RealD believes it has ported this technology into the humble TV screen.
There's no word on cost, but the TVs are likely to be more expensive than their active-shutter counterparts – although the glasses will be able to be sold for around £1.
This is very much an emerging technology but as it is already in use in cinema projectors which use RealD technology, expect to see a demo of the technology at CES 2011 and along with it the talk of yet another format war in the home.
Via HD Guru and Home Cinema Choice
