How The 3D TV Works

Learn how the 3D TV works and what is necessary to watch 3D TV in your home. We will introduce the three types of 3D glasses and then go into detail on active shutter glasses, including how they work, since this is the type you will need to watch 3D TV in your home.

3D TV Glasses
As mentioned above, there are three types of 3D TV glasses actively being used to watch 3D content. All three types operate on the idea that to see 3D the brain needs to see two slightly different images which it merges together into a 3D object. This is similar to how your brain works in the real world where your eyes see objects at slightly different angles and send those images to the brain which then merges them together to create a 3D image. The three methods to do this are called Anaglyph, Polarised and Active Shutter.

Anaglyph uses the red cyan glasses that have been around since the 1920s. If you watched 3D years ago this is likely how you watched it. The glasses are inexpensive but the picture is not very good either. The glasses are also called viewers and you can learn more about this approach on the 3D TV viewers page. The idea here is that two slightly offset images are shown on the screen at the same time and the glasses filter the images based on the light allowing each eye to see a different image.

Similar to Anaglyph, the Polarised method is another method where two images are shown on the screen at the same time and the glasses filter the images so each eye receives it's own image. The difference is that, with this method, the images are project at right angles to each other allowing the glasses to filter on wavelength rather than color.

Active Shutter Glasses
The Active Shutter mentioned, which is the one being used by TV manufactures, also uses two slightly offset images, only this method does not show both images on the screen at the same time. This method rapidly switches the images showing one and then the other in a very rapid fashion. The glasses are synchronized with the TV and block one eye and then the other in rapid succession along with the images on the TV. Therefore when the image for the right eye is being displayed the left eye is blocked and when the image for the left eye is displayed the right eye is blocked. Once again resulting in each eye seeing its own image.

The syncing between the glasses and the TV is done using Infrared, Radio Frequency or Bluetooth, amongst other technologies, therefore the glasses need power and have batteries. The glasses also require power to shutter the lens as each eye is blocked by introducing a small current into the lens, the lens turns dark resulting in the eye being blocked. You can find more information on the 3D TV Active Shutter glasses page or visit Best 3D TV glasses for a wide selection of glasses.

Many people are interested in watching 3D without the glasses. This is not yet available for TV, but see 3D TV without glasses to learn more about it and when it may be available.

How The 3D TV Works
This article focused heavily on the glasses aspect of how the 3D TV works. For additional articles on 3D TV or if you are interested in learning more about which are the best 3D TVs and where to get the best prices, see 3D TVs.

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