[bigOz (OP)]

Has anyone heard of or know of any scientific advances with regards to 3D TV imaging? I am considering buying a large screen TV but feel a little reluctant of spending a fortune, only to discover a year later, something new like a 3D imaging TVs have arrived into the market!  []

[another_someone]

Has anyone heard of or know of any scientific advances with regards to 3D TV imaging? I am considering buying a large screen TV but feel a little reluctant of spending a fortune, only to discover a year later, something new like a 3D imaging TVs have arrived into the market!  []

No way - there is no technology that looks like it is viable at this time, and even apart from whether technology were to exist, it would take a decade or so to implement an infrastructure.

[daveshorts]

There are lots of ways of doing it, and it has been done by various people. One of them was my pastoral tutor in my first year. He has a page explaining various strategies he has worked on here:
http://www2.eng.cam.ac.uk/~arlt1/research/research.htm
However being able to make a 3d tv is quite trivial compared with agreeing a standard, working out how to make them cheaply, building the cameras, building the broadcast infrastructure, etc, etc, etc...
I think your shiny new TV will be pushing up the daisies (or possibly poisoning them) long before it comes out.

However I am sure that a week after you buy it you will see something twice the size for half the money down the road...

[another_someone]

There are lots of ways of doing it, and it has been done by various people. One of them was my pastoral tutor in my first year. He has a page explaining various strategies he has worked on here:
http://www2.eng.cam.ac.uk/~arlt1/research/research.htm

Which is why I used the word 'viable'.

There have been lots of ways that one can do it, by wearing strange glasses, or using monochromatic laser light, or all sorts of other ways that would not be particularly saleable to the average home consumer who want to sit down and watch TV with his family or friends of an evening, and does not want to wear fancy spectacles or the like.

[Soul Surfer]

I agree that there are many ways of creating 3d images in a box like a TV set but it is unlikely that this technique will be used to present television.  This is because a small 3d image in a box tends to look just like what it is ie a set of small creatures doing things in a box and does not have the dramatic impact of a flat image that you look "Through" into a full size world.  If 3DTV comes it will probably be in the form of virtual reality goggles that you will have to wear and fill your entire visual image with the picture a bit like an Imax presentation.

There have been many attempts at improving the 3d effect in the image on a TV screen using holographic surrounds to the screen and colour matched background lighting  we played with them a bit about ten years ago where I used to work at EMI Central Research Labs.  They help some people a bit but others find them distracting.  I think Philips is marketing a set wih an ambient light gizmo at the moment.

[neilep]

Has anyone heard of or know of any scientific advances with regards to 3D TV imaging? I am considering buying a large screen TV but feel a little reluctant of spending a fortune, only to discover a year later, something new like a 3D imaging TVs have arrived into the market!  []

Don't wait !!....else, you'll be waiting for a very very long time (years) and paying a whole bunch of money !!.....there is no ' just round the corner ' 3D TV available any day soon !

[bigOz (OP)]

Thanks for all the info lads! But I have just found out that the technology already exists and is in use by some laptop and/or PC's! As for TV, apparently some well known brand manufacturer is to start production of such sets (when? not clear...) see: http://www.gizmodo.com/gadgets/home-entertainment/grundig-tharus-3d-tv-in-all-its-dimensions-someday-202278.php [nofollow].

Being first it will probably come with lots of quality problems and the new versions followed by other manufacturers will probably be more improved. I think I shall have to agree there is no imminent danger to a flat HD purchase at this time, since it will be a long time before a decent 3D becomes available.

[Karen W.]

I just bought a brand new Television and I haven't a clue about it except that it is a flat screen 27 inch  and it is digital... Thats about it! Way better then my old Television, although I had it for 25 years.. And it worked wonderfully with great picture right up till the day it Died! It died all at once Bleep...Lol it was gone! Oh my Gosh... I was shocked!! I love me TV. Am a bit of a movie buff!

Explain what you mean about a 3-D picture, Does this mean you will be veiwing a picture much like wearing a pair of 3- D glasses only without them all the time? That would be way cool! I haven't seen a good 3-D movie in years!! That would be so cool! HEE HEE HEE!

[Heliotrope]

In the early 90's I viewed a very effective 3D TV image at a comsumer electronic's show held in Earl's Court, London.
The picture was of some fish swimming around happily. I remember wondering what all the fuss was about until I saw one of the fish come right out of the screen !
I was astounded.
You had to keep in a relatively small area for the 3D illusion to be maintained however.
If you moved your head a few inches left, right, forward or backwards the illusion was broken and all you got was a double image.
It operated on the same principle as those cards you see given away free with some kid's magazines.
You move the card and it shows a simple animation of a scene. 3 or 4 frames of animation.
It's all down to the plastic lens they coat the image with.
And the image is actually made up of 3 or 4 images all sliced vertically and laid next to each other. First slice of frame 1 next to first slice of frame 2 and so on...
Then when you put the corrugated plastic lens on the image and hold it at the appropriate angle you can only see the slices corresponding to the first frame.
Rotate the card slightly and the slices corresponding to frame 2 appear. Move it a bit more and frame 3 becomes visible etc...
Move the card back and forth and the successive display of images appear to make an animation.

The 3D TV worked exactly the same way but with a specially designed screen replacing the sliced up image.

Things have moved on somewhat from this crude method thankfully.

[Heliotrope]

Oh and there's no point in delaying the purchase of a new TV because "3D TV is just around the corner" because it isn't.
It's going to take a lot more development before 3D TV is commercially viable.
You have to decide what you're going to tolerate as a consumer too.
Do you want to be stuck with daft glasses or not being able to move your head ?
What about only one person sitting in exactly the right position in the room as the one who gets it all in 3D ?
No good.
People want something much better than that.
Holographic tanks are the way to go for 3D TV.
Viewable from any angle and from anywhere without and special apparatus such as glasses.

Problem is that at the moment they're amazingly bulky, monochrome red or green, suffer from the most horrendous colour fringing distortions and make a substantial amount of mechanical noise.
Although the noise depends on the method of image generation.
And they also can't do video very well or in anything like an acceptable resolution.

So it'll be a while yet before you can play holographic chess with your Wookee neighbour.

[neilep]

I can never see the point of waiting because you will always be waiting .........either for the latest technology or the latest model with a few extra tricks within the technology and then you'll aways be playing a premium for it.

The way I convince myself is to say to myself that I am paying for the privilege of using enjoying it now, rather than a year from now etc etc...because when the first commercially 3d tv comes out it will be expensive and may not work unless there is 3D information being sent to it !!....which will initially probably only be available via blue ray or dvd discs..(or what ever the medium will be then)...and then you'll need a 3D capable dvd player etc etc

Enjoy your HD tv....believe me...when it's set up correctly...there is a three dimensionality to it anyway !