It seems that the trending TV technology in 2010 is going to be 3D technology. Movies like James Cameron’s Avatar and Pixar’s Up have captured people’s imaginations and both studios and TV manufacturers are going to take advantage of them. Obviously, the goal is to push the technology forward and improve the viewing experience. However, the cynics among us, including Mark Kermode, believe that 3D technology is just the latest technique to combat video piracy. To be honest, you’re probably right, but if 3D technology can be achieved, most of the public will welcome it with open arms.

Does this spell the death of 1080p TVs? I really doubt it. It will mean the cost of getting a good Full HD TV will drop even further, which can only be a good thing. But for most movies, having 1080p TVs will always be better until 3D technology fixes all the kinks. And of course the classics are not shot in 3D.

How does the Technology work?

Like 1080p TVs, each manufacturer will have their own proprietary technology to deliver the 3D experience. And currently three main methods are being employed.

Lenticular technology has been pioneered by Philips and is available from today. By using a special lens, these televisions allow viewers to ditch the traditional glasses they may have seen at the movies. The purpose of the lens is to send a different image to both the left and right eyes. That is, your left eye will see a completely different image than your right eye, which will emulate your two eyes’ use of stereopsis (the process by which your eyes perceive depth). The limitation of this technology is that for the full effect you will need to sit directly in front of the TV and narrow your viewing angle. This may be limited in certain room configurations.

Hyundai is developing passive glass technology, this type of LCD monitor will allow viewing of 2D and 3D images. To view the 3D images, viewers will need to wear traditional glasses for viewing three-dimensional media. This technology is essentially a smaller version of what you may have seen in the movies. To achieve this, this television has two superimposed images and the glasses have polarized lenses. Each lens is polarized so that you can see only one of the two superimposed images. Your brain will then do the rest.

The final technology is known as active glass, similar in some ways to the passive glass system, except instead of the TV doing all the work, the lenses do. The glasses sync with the TV’s refresh rate and then alternate the polarization of each lens, causing the wearers of the glasses to see 3D images. With this technology, people could comfortably watch a 2-D movie and then switch the movie to 3-D. This type of monitor is being developed by Samsung and Mitsubishi. The downside to this is that the glasses users will wear could be relatively expensive with predictions around £50 which could be limiting for some.

For now, a better buy would be a good quality 1080p TV that offers an exceptional viewing experience with proven technology. However, in a few years, once the technology has matured, 3D sets could appear in most living rooms.