Stereoscopic 3D via HDMI

Ever wondered about Stereoscopic 3D via HDMI? This is brand new technology and could be the future for next gen gaming moving towards VR.

Stereoscopy refers to a technique for creating an optical illusion of depth in an image by overlapping two offset images (parallax) separately to the right and left eye. Our brain processes the two images, considering slight differences in each image relative distance to give the perception of 3D projection, depth and width. Stereoscopic 3D via HDMI fundamentally allows HD games consoles to output full 3D using stereoscopy. Presently, four main techniques exist for producing 3D graphics, which can be ordered by most impressive as follows:

1 – Glasses-Free 3D TV
2 – Stereoscopic 3D
3 – Augmented Reality 3D
3 – Anaglyph 3D

Anaglyph glasses often come with some stereoscopic 3D games, but mainly with 3D movies – the latter of which can result in a big disappointment and sub-standard experience if you unfortunately buy a film on the belief it is Blu-ray 3D, when in fact it is a Blu-ray with Anaglyph 3D & paper glasses – the hideous red and green glasses out of the 80's. Anaglyph glasses tend to have a habit of make the TV look water damaged; all colours appear in shades of red green stains. Some eyesight's prefer the Red left lens and Cyan right lens variety.

Blu-ray 3D
Videogames have progressed quicker than technology can keep up with. Every few years one or two big changes rock the gaming world. HDTVs paved the way to high definition gaming; providing much better quality graphics and unimaginable realism. Then along came Blu-ray discs (BD) capable of holding five times the storage capacity of DVD!

Ever wondered why Blu-ray is better? Well the easy answer is that higher resolution graphics eat up more data storage. Blu-ray discs are relatively new and games are not using all of the full capacity. ‘Blu-ray 3D’ won the battle to triumph as the standard off the shelf format to buy HD 3D content. The content is delivered lag free, and the graphics look crystal-clear. Blu-ray 3D discs include the best stereo codecs to provide excellent 3D audio too.

Glasses-Free 3D
Britain's first Glasses-Free 3DTV will launch on March 12th 2012 costing £7,000. The Toshiba ZL2 55-inch 3D TV has a whopping screen resolution, never seen before. It has raised the benchmark of resolution quality to 4000x3000 pixels (4K resolution), that is by far greater than today's best screens capable of 1980x1080.
Toshiba ZL2 uses powerful computer beams to track up to nine people. It works by beaming light directly to your eyes, and you do not have to be facing the TV horizontally, so you can still enjoy the 3D image wherever you sit within "face tracking" range. The new tech is based on stereoscopic. Remarkably, the TV can also "upscale" any 2D content into 3D.

 

Samsung Smart TV
Samsung quickly realized the uptake of their 3DTV sets, was marred by one simple fact, the UK lacks 3DTV free view channels, hence their internet capable Smart TV range gives Samsung 3DTV owners free access to more and more 3D and IMAX documentaries as time goes by. From the Smart Hub, Samsung provide over 60 3D on demand shows: Britney Spears Femme Fatale in Concert, Dinosaurs Alive, Grand Canyon IMAX; all completely free to watch again and again.

3D Movies in Cinema
In case you haven't noticed, over the past three years more and more blockbuster films are being shot using 3D cameras to be screened in 3D at the cinema. 3D TVs and Blu-ray 3D movies definitely have become more sought out and soon more choice of film and TV will be coming to Blu-ray 3D. Consumers have been waiting for glasses free 3DTV since 2007, now it's here, the seven grand price tag is too high, besides that, this year there's not much ground breaking tech to look forward to. On a gamer's radar we have the Wii U, PS Vita, a new range of iPods, iPhones and recently announced Apple iPad3. So this year go and buy an LED 3D TV with glasses for gaming. Affordable ‘Augmented reality television’ won't be around for at least another 5 years. If you want to find out more about Augmented Reality games, the best implementation can be demonstrated by the Nintendo 3DS console, see here for details.

Questions and Answers.
Q: What do you need to buy to play Stereoscopic 3D games via HDMI? A: PS3 Slim or Xbox 360 S.
Q: What games console plays Blu-ray 3D? A: PS3 Slim

 

Written 15/3/2012