How 3D TV Works – Part One
Most people don’t care how 3D TV works, they just sit there entranced, and take it all in — surrounded by pulsating three dimensional imagery which crosses the divide between the TV screen, and the reality of our lives. A decade into the new millennium, British consumers are finally enjoying the benefits of the latest 3D TV technology, and bragging rights are up for grabs in pubs around the country. The nation needs to know: how does 3D TV work?
The Beginning of 3D TV
In our quest to unravel the mysteries of 3D TV, we need to step back almost ninety years. In 1922 a film called “The Power of Love” hit the big screens in Los Angeles.
It didn’t cause the sensation we’re seeing in the modern era, but it did send ripples into the fifties, which culminated in the technology we’re benefiting from today. So in effect, we could be the fourth or even fifth generation to experience 3D TV.
While some are just happy to plug in their new 50” plasma HDTV 3D TV, some (mostly males) need to know the answer: how does 3D television work? We’ve got the answer your dads have been looking for, in a language he can understand.
The Basics of Vision
Humans have two eyes. Agreed?
Good. We should also agree that, generally speaking, our eyes are approximately four inches apart — therefore they receive ever so slightly different images. Think about it as two camcorders set a foot or so apart.
Now, although our eyes are independent of each other, they both function together with the aid of our brain. For your dads, let’s relate it to beer.
If both eyes are looking at a glass of cold beer, we receive those two slightly different images. Our brain, being the supercomputer that it is, calculates various attributes about the glass, not least the perception of depth — or, how close or far away it is.
If it’s far away, our brains take into account the relatively small amount of effort needed to focus on the glass, but as dad draws the beer closer to his mouth, the image becomes much harder to hold together, so when dad tips that last droplet of beer down his throat, he’s probably seeing a double-vision of the base of the glass.
The beer has crossed the narrowest point of convergence possible for our vision.
(Similarly, the more beer dad has, the less his brain functions, meaning his whole world spirals into double-vision and his depth of field becomes a little confused, which is why dad sometimes stumbles up the stairs to bed).
So, what about 3D TV? How does this relate to getting that extra three-dimensional kick? To get that wow-factor, we need a false sense of depth, and lots of it. In laymen’s terms, 3D TV must trick our brains into believing that the depth of field is further forward.
While our eyes converge on the TV screen, our brains are computing the two separate images being shown by the 3D technology, and falsely melding the two together to create one three dimensional image.
Now we’ve got the basics sorted, let’s move on to Part II in our guide for ‘How does 3D TV work?’ Discover some of the vital components needed to create the illusion of 3D TV, and unearth the difference between 3D cinema and 3D TV.
Read Part Two of our How 3D TV Works Guide.
Category: 3D TV
