Sony to go 3D starting 2009!

[Kzoellner]

Richard Chung, Zalman Product Manager, Game Developers Conference

LCD panels have quickly taken CRT’s place, but LCD monitors don’t have a high enough refresh rate to update the screen and switch between two unique images fast enough. A popular way around this problem is to cut the vertical resolution in half with 50% of the lines devoted to your left eye, and 50% devoted to your right. A polarizing filter is then placed in front of the LCD panel to differentiate the left and right eyed resolution lines, and the viewer’s polarized glasses combine the images for a stereoscopic 3D result.

High resolution is critical in 2D, but it isn’t as important for stereoscopic 3D. Resolution is always a plus, but in S-3D, a sharp interlaced image is very rewarding. Ghosting refers to cross-talk between the eyes, or an inability for each glasses lens to completely block out the image from the opposite eye. Current interlaced 3D monitors and HDTV solutions have the advantage of displaying very little ghosting.

Another benefit is the light levels are very high compared to other solutions because the glasses and/or screen is not flickering between images or blocking the eyes in any way – with the exception of the slightly darkened polarized glasses.

A challenge with interlaced 3D solutions is while graphics tend to look very good, small text can become difficult if not impossible to read. The problem is that half the vertical resolution interferes with the fine details lettering requires. The low ghosting functionality also requires sitting in a fixed vertical position. If the viewer tilts forward or backwards a few degrees, ghosting becomes very visible. Finally, this technology is resolution specific. If your game requires a reduction in resolution to maintain performance, the image can’t be scaled to a larger size - and you will need to use a fraction of the screen space to get your games to work.

In the case of larger sized monitors and HDTV solutions, the impact of these trade-offs are greatly reduced.