From the Trenches - 2 Million 3D Ready Displays Already in the Home, but…

[Richard]

If you purchased a Mitsubishi or Samsung DLP rear projection HDTV over the last 3 years, you might want to check your owners manual, spec sheet or back of the TV to confirm you are 3D ready. The fact is that many owners are unaware of the feature since it isn’t the reason they bought it to begin with. From experience in the field, many are bound to unwittingly consider replacing it for a 3D ready display when they may not need to.

If you are one of the current 2 million 3D DLP owners...

[url=http://www.hdtvmagazine.com/columns/2010/04/from_the_trenches_2_million_3d_ready_displays_already_in_the_home_but.php]Read Column[/url]

[magoo]

Richard,

You mean for once in my "Early Adopter" life having WD-73835 that is about 15 months old actually a good thing? I got this set to hold me over until I can swing the new JVC projector. My Pioneer RPTV HDTV just could not keep up with HDMI 1.3a and all the rest so that is why I got the Mits, even though this set cannot due heavy action scenes as clearly as I'd like...

Richard I hope you get lots of feedback on this and some more info on the Mits adaptor,,,,it will be interesting to hear (read) what you discover.


Cheers!


larry :D :shock:

[Richard]

Hey Larry!

even though this set cannot due heavy action scenes as clearly as I'd like...

I can't imagine why that would be if blu-ray is your reference and you are using the NATURAL and LOW color temp settings.

The problem you describe is common with broadcast HD and distribution.

[videograbber]

Richard,

thanks for the update. One small disappointment is that Mits has moved back the date on their 3D adapter box from the initial Q1, to "late spring". And now, "June". At least we'll get it eventually, and hopefully for the kind of price they initially indicated.

However, I'm surprised to hear you say that the "Rear projection DLP wobulates a 960x540 DMD chip". This makes no sense, mathematically. As you indicated, these displays run a 120 Hz refresh, which allows wobulation to achieve 1920x1080p at 60 Hz, for 2D content. But that's with a 960x1080 DMD chip. If it were as you claimed, the display would have to run at 240 Hz, to get the full rez at 60 Hz, which it does not. These RPTV DMD chips are wobulated only on one axis... not both. They're full 1080p sets... not 1080i.

- Tim

[Richard]

Hi Tim,

Sorry to hear the adapter has been pushed back and thanks for that additional info!

It appears over the years of working with wobulated DLP and aligning that mirror I have confused myself. My own Waveform Article from 2005 states 960x1080 but that was written prior to any hands on experience.

I have spent hours researching wobulation (what little is left to find) and playing with test patterns in an attempt to try and understand the conflict of my hands on repair and calibration experience versus what I am told. I simply cannot mechanically wrap my head around what is going on. I thought about boring readers with all the details but have decided to wave a white flag instead and ask Shane to change that in the column.

However HP managed to make this happen it is clear when performing the wobulation alignment that I am seeing two different fields that have been broken up into a checkerboard pattern simulating the same 3D checkerboard pattern that is being considered for 3D broadcast.

Good Catch Tim!

[videograbber]

At the risk of waking up an "old" thread... back in January, Rodolfo quoted Mitsubishi as saying that:

viewtopic.php?t=13242

The adapter will input 1.4 HDMI as 3D full frame from Blu-ray and convert the stream to HDMI <1.4 version, output as 3D checkerboard to be compatible with the current Mitsubishi 3D-ready RPTVs (and Samsung RPTVs as well, using the same DLP checkerboard technology, although Samsung did not confirm this statement from Mitsubishi).

Sadly, even though the Mitsu 3DC-1000 converter boxes ARE compatible with both the Mitsu and Samsung 3D-ready sets, Mitsu has decided to purposely lock out Samsung owners from being able to utilize the box. They performed this magic using the EDID information from the set. (BTW, the EDID was neither designed nor intended to be used as a mechanism for locking out competitor's products, though that's how it's being used here.)

Confirmation of this, and a few more details are here. This is great news for 700,000 Samsung DLP HDTV owners.

A company has come out with an "EDID "spoofer" to circumvent this, which costs nearly twice as much as the 3D Converter box itself. (What a deal!) There's some discussion of this option here.

One good piece of news is that Panasonic DMP-BD300 and DMP-BD350 3D-Blu-ray players can output directly in the checkerboard format the Samsungs (and all DLP sets) require. So no converter box is needed at all for Blu-ray content. I've been reading comments that Panny/Sammy owners are very happy with the quality of the 3D (the HL61A750 thread on AVS), and think it significantly better than 3D in the theaters.

DirecTV and 3D cable are still a problem though, and as I understand it, Sony's PS3 won't be doing checkerboard either (which seems like a strange omission). So quite a few who might want to use the 3DC-1000, can't.

- Tim

[videograbber]

One quick update, for those looking for the 3dc-1000, it appears to be sold only in a "Starter Kit" for MSRP $400. But the stand-alone $99 adapter unit is now designated the "3da-1", available from a number of resellers.

- Tim

[Richard]

There are a number of reasons why Mitsubishi would lock out Samsung...

1) limited volume produced covering expectations for their product only

2) potential returns from Samsung owners due to compatibility issues or simply dis-satisfaction

On the other hand they could be making money by supporting Samsung.

Who knows...

Thanks for the update Tim!