If you have decided to buy a 3D TV then you may be overwhelmed at the choice that is available. There is so much jargon surrounding the subject that it is very confusing to the average consumer. The main decision that you will have to make is whether to opt for active or passive 3D TV. The passive 3D TV vs active 3D TV argument is a new one, as up to the recent introduction of the LG LW6500 3D TV, all 3D TVs on the market utilized active 3D.
The obvious question is – what is the difference between these two types of 3D TV. Simply put active 3D TV produces higher resolution images, and passive 3D TV is cheaper. What some people might find confusing is this – as both types of 3D have full HD 1080p displays how can one be a higher resolution than the other?
To explain this as simply as possible – active 3D TVs display separate 1080p images for each of the viewers left and right eyes. The left and right images are shown alternately and the active shutter 3D glasses block the viewer’s left and right eyes so that they don’t see the image intended for the other eye. With passive 3D, the images for the left and right eyes are merged together into one image which is displayed on screen. This single image is then filtered by the passive 3D glasses so that each eye only sees part of the image on display, thus the resolution is reduced due to the filtering process.
Whilst it might appear that passive 3D TV is inferior compared to active 3D TV, it is only in respect of resolution. On the flip side passive 3D TV handles video motion better (the ability to show fast paced on screen action). Where as active 3D TV uses half of the available frame rate for each eye, passive 3D TV uses the entire frame rate for both eyes. The final advantage of passive 3D TV is that they cost less to buy, and the 3D glasses are both cheaper and more comfortable to wear.