[Philip Lelyveld comment: this is an excellent summary of the major active / passive 3D TV manufacturer’s current positions.]

[By Greg Tarr — TWICE, 3/21/2011]

As the first of the 2011 3DTVs start to arrive in retail stores, the consumer electronics industry finds itself in the throes of a new consumer format conundrum — passive or active-shutter 3D glasses?

TVs compatible with the 3D Blu-ray Disc standard first appeared last year, all using so-called active-shutter glasses. These glasses are battery powered and actively switch on and off the left- and right-eye views in alternating sequence to produce 3D images, in some cases in Full 1080p HD resolution. All were launched with great fanfare and promotion, but saw lukewarm (1.3 million units overall) sell-through numbers at the end of the year.

Some consumer studies traced this to, in part, a general rejection to the notion of wearing expensive special glasses to get the 3D effect.

One year later, a new crop of 3DTVs based on passiveglasses 3D technology (also known as Film Patterned Retarder, FPR technology) are being positioned by a handful of manufacturers as the savior of the stereoscopic revolution.

The technology is said to address most of the concerns consumers have expressed about active-shutter 3D glasses: cost, discomfort, cross-talk artifacts and style challenges.

But experts have said active shutter has the edge in brightness and delivering higher-resolution images, while LG’s FPR tech is cheaper, lighter and more comfortable to wear.

The first hints of what may follow came last December, after Vizio first introduced a 65-inch LCD flat-panel display based on passive-glasses 3D technology. The company reported unexpectedly heavy demand. Supplies quickly sold out, leaving the company to gear up more volume while expanding the line to a wider assortment of screen sizes.

Although its passive-glasses 3D LCD TVs don’t require expensive battery-powered active-shutter glasses, Vizio has positioned the technology as its premium 3DTV offering, listing the 65-inch set at a $3,500 suggested retail.

This takes into account the added bill of materials required to build the technology into the set.

In contrast, LG Electronics, which is shipping the first of its passive 3D TVs (called Cinema 3D) sets to market now, has positioned passive 3D LCD TVs as its entry into the 3D mix, offering active-shutter glasses technology in step-up LCD TV and plasma TV lines.

Passive 3D LCD “is a better experience overall, more like you get in the cinema,” said James Fishler, LG go-tomarket operations senior VP, adding: “We’ll keep activeshutter 3D in our lineup, though. At the high end, with all the other bells and whistles, it’s a different experience.”

Toshiba, which will ship its first passive sets soon, is also positioning the technology at the entry end of its stereoscopic 3D assortment. The company will keep active- shutter models as its higher performers. In Japan the company is also selling large-screen auto-stereoscopic (glasses-free) 3D LCD TVs, but has no plans for that in the U.S. at this time.

Meanwhile, Samsung threw a wild card into the game at International CES when it announced a hybrid technology that places active-shutter switching in the panel, enabling viewers to wear passive polarized glasses like those used in FPR sets.

DisplaySearch’s Paul Gagnon, North American TV research director, called Samsung’s approach “active retarder” technology because it uses a second LCD panel to actively switch polarization.

“It’s kind of a best-of-both-worlds approach using lowcost glasses, but without a resolution hit,” Gagnon said, pointing out that one of the big drawbacks of LG’s FPR passive 3D approach is that it cuts resolution in half. “These will probably debut as the highest performance 3DTVs, giving the industry a good-better-best strategy, although there will be fierce debate this year as to whether passive- or active-shutter glass 3D is the good or better candidate, depending on brand viewpoint. We probably won’t see active-retarder-type 3D sets until next year, and they will be expensive.”

Meanwhile, Sony and Samsung continue to stick to active-shutter LCD 3D displays, although LG executives in Korea recently mentioned that they have engaged additional manufacturers including Sony in discussions about adopting FPR 3D LCD panels.

In its quest to reign supreme atop the 3D TV market, LG is offering passive 3D sets at low adoption prices despite a potentially higher manufacturing cost.

“Cost is definitely an issue here, and while passive sets will have a lower total cost than active when accounting for four pairs of glasses being included, some 120Hz active 3D LCD TV sets will be available that could have the lowest absolute cost of the set since no glasses are included,” Gagnon told TWICE. “This would be an option for consumers just looking to future-proof their set, without jumping fully into 3D from the start.”

Guido Voltolina, COO of 3D glasses manufacturer Xpand, which makes active-shutter 3D glasses solutions, said he found it somewhat ironic that LG Electronics, which has a large plasma TV production interest, would lead the charge for passive 3D technology. Currently, the passive 3D system does not work economically with plasma technology, and plasma sets are top active-shutter 3D performers, due to their faster switching speeds.

“Plasma is already active compatible without any additional cost,” Voltolina observed. “It is always important to see the impact on 2D viewing performance, when adding any 3D technology. Taking away performance in 2D is less likely to have wide acceptance as the majority of the content will be viewed that way.”

So where does this leave plasma? At least for now, FPR technology has not been applied to plasma displays, but Samsung and LG are applying active-shutter 3D technology to 720p resolution plasma models to lower the cost and push adoption.

“3D was important for plasma, but not the driver of the strong growth in 2010,” Gagnon observed. “The 2010 plasma growth rebound was attributable to low-cost 720p models, not high-end 3D 1080p models. We are expecting the plasma market to start slowly contracting in 2011, but the 3D share will grow.”

While 720p 3D plasma should be popular in 2011, “most models of 3D plasma will be 1080p,” Gagnon said.

To date, virtually all of the 3DTV activity has been applied to screen sizes measuring 42 inches and larger. Gagnon believes that will continue to be the case for the most part for the next few years.

See the original post here: http://www.twice.com/article/465495-Passive_Active_3D_Formats_Go_Toe_To_Toe.php

[By Kim Yoo-chul, KoreaTimes]

It would remain secret to the last minute what is in the mind of Hewlett-Packard (HP) CEO Leo Apotheker, who took charge of the global juggernaut late last year, on the firm’s strategies on three-dimensional (3D) technologies.

Under his stewardship, HP can adopt either the mainstream active-shutter glasses (SG) or the alternative film patterned retarder (FPR) on its products like desktops, laptops and monitors.

People may have a reason to pick the latter.

On his visit to Seoul early this month, Apotheker met top executives of LG, which works on FPR, to check the advantages and flaws of the technology. It is not known whether he visited Samsung Electronics that is betting on SG.

“LG Electronics Vice Chairman Koo Bon-joon briefed about the strengths of the FPR technology to Apotheker during his visit,” said a senior executive of LG Group, who is closely involved in the matter, Sunday.

“The HP CEO was impressed by the FPR tech and the talks were quite constructive.”

Based on the high-profile meeting, the executive said that LG Display, the sister firm of LG Electronics, is in consultations with HP on contracts.

“LG Display is currently in talks with HP to sell FPR 3D-enabled panels to the U.S.-based firm,” said the executive, who asked not to be named.

LG Display spokesman Sohn Young-june admitted that the outfit has contacted HP with regard to the FPR 3D panels although he refused to elaborate while an HP official refused to comment.

Market observers point out that HP has a reason to opt for the FPR option instead of the SG technology in consideration of the former’s price competitiveness, which may be the top priority for HP products of monitors or laptops.

Unlike the SG solution, LG’s FPR tech uses a film applied to a screen that makes the screen cheaper. Glasses are also inexpensive at below $10, while SG glasses are conversely quite costly at over $60 as it uses lithium batteries.

Since last year, HP has been strengthening its flagship lineups and it has plans to introduce more 3D-enabling models, according to industry sources.

“Considering HP’s moves to release 3D-compatible laptops to meet growing consumer demands for the new technology and more gaming content, chances are high that LG makes a deal with HP,” the LG executive said.

If LG Display can successfully persuade HP, already one of its biggest clients, to ink a formal agreement, the Seoul-headquartered company would gain great momentum to push FPR technologies to the forefront in the global scene.

Then, it would expand its shares in the lucrative 3D industries.

LG, which supplies LCD panels in a variety of sizes for use in consumer electronics applications including computers, monitors and TV sets, counts Dell, Acer, Lenovo and Apple on top of HP as customers.

“It’s a two-track strategy. LG is in action to boost its customer base not only from TV makers but also PC majors for wide use of its new tech. I personally say that does make sense,” said an analyst at a Europe-based investment bank in Seoul on the condition of anonymity.

In competition with SG, the FPR side is benefitting in addition to the possible partnership with HP.

LG Display CEO Kwon Young-soo said recently that Sony is also considering using its 3D technology to produce 3D televisions and the firm has already briefed the tech to the Tokyo-based outfit.

Should Sony jump onboard, it would deal a big blow to Samsung since Sony originally supported SG technology.

Additional good news is coming from the markets as surveyed by iSuppli, a California-based market research firm.

FPR technology gained popularity over the Chinese New Year holiday sales period with consumers buying more FPR 3D TVs compared to SG ones, and accounted for the majority of 3D TVs sold in China.

“Even more encouraging is that Chinese manufacturers and retailers are enthusiastic about the FPRS as sales of local TV brands outpaced foreign ones during the Lunar New Year season, even though non-Chinese brands are still leading the 3D television market,’’ iSuppli said.

See the original post here; http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/tech/2011/03/133_83477.html