So what exactly is 3D?

The aim of our article is not to bombard you with technological terms and descriptions - we simply want to give you a brief overview of the various ways in which 3D projection can now be acheived and the benefits it can bring to you.

In its most basic form, 3D technology use two separate images - one image for the left eye and one for the right eye. These two images overlap to increase your perception of the image depth and creates that "leaping out of the screen at you" effect.

Currently there are a few competing versions of 3D technology available - all acheive the same objective which is that they show a separate image to each eye to increase the perception of depth. They all require the use of a special pair of glasses. What differs between the technologies is the way in which the two images are created and what type of glasses are required to view them.

 So what types of 3D technology are available?

Anaglyph - The least expensive of the current 3D technologies. This method is used for current available 3D DVD's and Blu ray DVD's as it requires no special equipment. It will work on your current projector. To watch the image you will require the glasses you have traditionally come to associate with 3D films namely inexpensive cardboard style glasses with one blue lens and one red. The main disadvantage and the core reason 3D projection failed in the 1980's is very poor colour reproduction. The other disadvantage is eye strain and potential headaches as the cheap cardboard glasses are nothing more than a simple filter.

Polarized - This type of 3D technology can be found in use at IMAX cinemas. Polarized 3D glasses use lenses that filter out light projected at certain angles. Each lens will only allow light through that is polarized in a compatible way. Because of this, each eye will see only one set of images on the screen. Whilst the glassses themselves are fairly inexpensive, they require the use of a specialised screen, processing device and two perfectly aligned projectors. For this reason a non starter for the average home cinema setup.

LCD shutter glasses - This is the current technology that is being used in conjuction with the latest 3D ready projectors. Rather than anaglyph and polarized glasses which are passive, LCD shutter glasses are active. They are powered by a tiny battery and alternate between the left and right eye to give a full colour full resolution image to each eye. Other than the glasses the only other additional hardware required is a 3D ready projector and 3D source.

 DLP 3D Ready Projectors

Currently 3D Ready projectors work with two types of LCD Shutter glasses..

DLP Link Glasses - These glasses work with all DLP 3D ready projectors. Thanks to DLP Link, a special synchronization system built into 3D Ready DLP projectors, the glasses link to the projector without any special emitters or 3rd party transmission devices.

Infra Red Glasses (NVIDIA 3D Vision) - These glases are used only for PC gaming on PC's running Windows Vista or higher as the operating system. The PC requires a compatible NVIDIA "Geoforce" Graphics card and the projector itself needs to be NVIDIA certified. The glasses work by communicating with an external USB controller/IR emitter.

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