Samsung, RealD partner on new 3D TV technology

At the SID (Society for Information Display) conference this week, Samsung and RealD announced they've signed a joint licensing agreement to begin making displays that use a new 3D technology we first wrote about at CES. The technology, called RDZ, essentially combines the best attributes of both active 3D (full 1080p resolution) and passive 3D (lightweight, inexpensive glasses) by moving the shutter activity from the glasses to the panel itself.

The first products will be computer monitors in the 23- to 27-inch range, slated to arrive early next year, but they'll be followed up by larger TVs, including 55-inch models, later.

The two companies have a strong backer in director James Cameron, who said, "RealD and Samsung's new displays look fantastic and represent the next step in 3D home entertainment." Cameron, a RealD board member, said that full resolution is key to experiencing 3D as a filmmaker intended," and when combined with the ability to use RealD 3D cinema glasses, "this display technology will set a new standard for 3D in the home."

As we've explained previously in our reviews of passive 3D TV systems from Vizio and LG, the use of a polarizing film on the TV, which separates the views intended for each eye, cuts the vertical resolution of the image--and thus its detail--in half. The benefits of passive 3D include a brighter image, less crosstalk than we've seen with active 3D glasses, and the ability to wear inexpensive, comfortable glasses. But like current active systems, the new RDZ sets will be able to present full 1080p resolution to each eye, and the use of an active filter on the TV, which maintains separate left- and right-eye views, allows viewers to wear inexpensive polarized passive 3D glasses like those used in most in 3D theaters.

We were impressed by the demos of the technology we received at CES and think it could address drawbacks of each of the current technologies. But we don't yet have a firm idea of when the first 3D TVs using the RDZ technology will ship, or how much they'll cost. You can be sure we'll try to get our hands on a set as soon as one becomes available.

—James K. Willcox