Left: Passive 3D through glasses - Middle: Passive 3D without glasses - Right: Active 3Dīeyond their economic advantages, passive glasses are easier to use and wear. Geoffrey Morrison/CNET (Hugo clip courtesy of Paramount) Note that even though your eyes together are getting all the pixels from the TV, you can still see these lines depending on how close you sit, and how big the TV is. Passive 3D TV, up close, as seen through one lens. Even if those aren't visible, the jagged diagonal lines they cause might be. If your screen is big, or you're sitting close, you're going to see what look like alternating horizontal lines, as in black lines in between the active image (see images below). On a 1080p TV (1,920x1,080-pixel resolution), each eye is only seeing 1,920x540 pixels due to the polarized lenses blocking half the lines. On the other hand, passive 3D TVs deliver lower resolution. Some active 3D TVs deal with it better than others, but passive 3D TVs are virtually crosstalk-free. Crosstalk typically appears as a second ghostly image or outline around an onscreen object I find it a major distraction that ruins the experience in some cases. Crosstalk occurs when you can still see both images - for example in the stairway on the right - when wearing the 3D glasses.Īctive 3D systems are typically subject to crosstalk, my least favorite 3D-specific artifact. In terms of picture quality, both come with significant compromises.

Passive glasses are as cheap as a few bucks apiece, while active glasses start at $20 and go up from there.

Active glasses use liquid-crystal shutters that run on batteries, while passive glasses use simple polarizing lenses, similar to what you'll get in most US 3D theaters. The most obvious difference is in the glasses. If you care about 3D TV - and don't worry, I won't judge you if you don't - you'll want to experience one for yourself.ĭamned if you're active, damned if you're passiveģD on TVs comes two flavors today: active and passive. I just finished reviewing my first one, Toshiba's 65L9300U, and it delivered the cleanest, most artifact-free 3D image of any TV I've had in the lab. That is, until 4K resolution TVs with passive 3D came along. Until now, however, they all demanded severe picture quality sacrifices when you donned the glasses. 'The Hobbit.' 'Pacific Rim.' 'Man of Steel.' 'Thor: The Dark World.' 'The Wolverine.' 'Cars.' 'Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2.' 'Gravity.'Īnd numerous TVs are available with 3D capability - and include the requisite glasses - to handle playing those movies in the home. Sarah Tew/CNET (Hugo clip courtesy of Paramount)ģD may be all but dead, at least on TV, but plenty of 3D films are still coming out in theaters and on Blu-ray. Passive 3D is best experienced on a TV with 4K resolution.

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