» TriDef 3-D DLP HDTV Packs for 3D Home Theater - Review

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October 9, 2007

TriDef 3-D DLP HDTV Packs for 3D Home Theater - Review

The release of 3-D movies such as Meet the Robinsons and Harry Potter have introduced movie goers to the modern cinema 3-D experience. Other big budget 3-D movie projects in development such as Beowulf and the long awaited Avatar by James Cameron should ignite a wider spread consumer desire for a 3-D home entertainment solution.

TriDef’s 3D DLP HDTV accessory pack

TriDef’s 3D DLP (Digital Light Processors) HDTV accessory packs are one solution for watching the latest high definition 3-D movies and PC games on 3-D enabled DLP HDTVs. TriDef’s 3-D, technically termed “stereoscopic” vision, is based on each eye being exposed to slightly different perspectives (left and right eye perspectives). Our brain works the magic of fusing the images together into a single image (just as they do with our normal vision) with perceived depth.

The TriDef 3-D Experience Accessory Pack includes two pairs of i-O Displays wireless, active 3-D glasses and DDD’s TriDef 3D Experience software. The software is compatible with Windows XP and Vista and delivers high-resolution HDTV images to 3D enabled DLP HDTVs such as Samsungs 2007 line-up of full 1080p, 3D enabled DLP HDTVs.

Sourcing 3-D movies should not a problem as the TriDef 3-D Experience software will automatically convert 2D DVD movies into 3D. You can even convert family photographs to 3D and surf the web in 3D.

Samsung’s (and Mitsubishi’s) HDTVs are 3D enabled using Texas Instruments (TI) high definition 3-D DLP technology. Active glasses wirelessly synchronize to the HDTV then display the images to each eye utilizing a shutter system which alternately covers and exposes each eyes thus providing the 3-D viewing experience.

The requirement for alternating left and right images doubles the bandwidth required for conventional 2-D displays – and we’re talking high definition 1080p here. TI has been technically adroit in avoiding this potential problem by tweaking their existing SmoothPicture architecture.

SmoothPicture is a technology Ti developed to reduce the cost of their DLP chips for high definition displays. SmoothPicture halves the number of micro mirrors required on each chip to produce the number of pixels required for high definition images. SmoothPicture works by splitting each frame into a two “checkerboards of pixels” sub-frames. When each checkerboard subframe is displayed in sequence the human eye combines the stream into a clear high definition video image. By utilizing the SmoothPicture architecture Texas Instruments was able to avoid the bandwidth doubling requirements of stereoscopic 3-D. Avoidance of the bandwidth doubling also means that 3-D video signals can be transferred over current DVI and HDMI interfaces.

If you want all the details on TI’s 3-D DLP Technology you can read their white paper Introducing 3-D DLP TV.

The Simplifi 3D Entertainment System by i-O Displays is another 3D solution package containing a Simplifi 3D PC, two pair of wireless glasses, all necessary software, and five 3D movies. The system will work with 2007 Samsung and Mitsubishi DLP screens. Source material can be in 2D or 3D - 3D images are reformatted for DLP display. The PC is provided to do the 2D to 3D conversion when required.