What's the right choice, Active or Passive 3D?

3DTV has been one of the buzz words in the TV industry over the last couple years. The quality of 3D film and TV production has improved dramatically as has the ability to watch it at home on your TV. Thankfully the days of using the red & green cardboard glasses to gave you a 3D effect but ruined the colour have now gone & 3D today is in full colour and also in HD.

There are, however, two main types of 3DTV that you can buy for your living room, both of which require the viewer to wear either Active or Passive 3D glasses. Both types will work with the industry standard 3D transmissions and 3D movies that you can buy on Blu-Ray, ensuring there are no compatibility problems.

Active 3D
Active 3D is the preferred method of watching 3D for those that are after the very best picture quality. It works in a very similar way to the 3D IMAX theatres & provides you with a Full HD (1920x1080p resolution) image to each eye. The glasses are generally powered by built-in batteries, some are rechargeable via USB. From 2012 the active glasses from the big brand names will be interchangeable between different manufacturers, meaning you can take your Panasonic glasses to your friends house and watch 3D on their Sony TV!

The glasses themselves blank off your vision so that only one eye at a time can see the TV. The lenses switch on/off in turn at high speed to match the image that is on the TV. It happens so quickly that your eyes can't distinguish between the two slightly different images that are being thrown at them and your brain puts them together to form a 3D picture.
If you watch a 3DTV without glasses you can see both images at the same time showing slightly different perspectives of the same scene. 

Active 3D glasses are slightly heavier than their Passive 3D cousins but are now light enough that it makes little or no difference. They should also fit over the top of all but the bulkiest spectacles allowing you to wear both if you need to. 

Active glasses do cost considerably more than Passive ones. This is due to the fact that they have a lot of technology packed in to give you the very best picture possible. If you're planning on having lots of friends and family over to watch 3D this might be slightly prohibitive with prices up to £60 per pair.

On the other hand if you're looking for the best picture and enjoy watching films or sporting events with your partner or children Active is the best choice.



Passive 3D
Passive 3D is the name given to the system used in most cinemas up and down the country. It's also what's employed by Sky & LG to get 3D into pubs & clubs. Passive 3D allows many users to watch 3D at relatively low cost. Glasses can cost as little as £2, allowing the casual viewer to either buy some at the bar & watch the match alongside another 30-40 people in the pub, or so that your extended family can gather round and watch the big Christmas movie without breaking the bank.

Passive glasses come in a variety of styles and colours and because they're much lower cost can be replaced easily if lost or broken.
You may also be able to use the glasses you bought in the cinema to watch your new Passive 3DTV.
The downside to Passive 3D is that the picture quality is drastically reduced.
With Active 3D the Full HD image is sent to each eye in turn. Passive 3D is very different.
Passive 3D uses filtration on the TV screen itself to split the image to be seen by each eye.

Half of the 1080 lines that cross the screen are polarised to emit horizontal light, the other half emit vertical light, the lenses in the Passive glasses only allow one type of light to pass through. Horizontal in one side and vertical in the other. The result is that the resolution that each eye sees is cut from 1080 lines down to 540 lines.

For the casual user or for large group viewing, this reduction in picture is really of no concern. It's also a great option to get 3D on a tighter budget or for the kids bedrooms to use with their PS3 or Xbox.

As you can see in the picture (to the left), when looking through the glasses each eye is missing half of the detail on the screen. Between each line of colour through the glasses is a black line, this is reversed for the other eye with the appropriate scene displayed instead. 



Conclusion
Whichever way you choose to get 3D you'll be glad that you did. The level of immersion into the film or sporting event you choose to watch is fantastic. It is also a great opportunity to create a family or friend get together.

We refer to 3D in the shop as "Event Viewing". By this we mean that it's not something you're going to use every day or even every week. It will however, likely be a big sporting event or movie that you can get everyone involved in. Making sure that you spend a few hours together as a family or with friends specifically to watch, enjoy and discuss a particular movie or game.

A great example of this was the "Strictly Come Dancing" final on BBC HD during December 2011. It's a show that crosses the age and gender divide and was recorded beautifully by the BBC. The 3D effect was fantastic and really impressed members of my family with its quality.
Society has accused TV of dividing the family & reducing the amount of quality time we spend with each other. Maybe with 3D and the advent of Smart TV this accusation can in some ways be rebuffed!

Option 3!
A third option has just been released in to the UK market that does not use glasses at all. The TV from Toshiba, which is currently 5-6 times the price of a Passive 3D set, use a complicated system of facial recognition and a lenticular display to "beam" the 3D image to up to 14 people in front of the TV.
I am yet to see this type of set in operation so can't really give an opinion on its quality. At the moment however, based on price alone, I think I'll stick with the glasses!

To see our range of 3D TVs, please visit our website

www.HickmansOldTown.com or come & visit us in store.

You can also keep up to date with our offers & promotions through www.facebook.com/HickmansOldTownLtd

or @HickmansOldTown on twitter.

What is Smart TV?

One of the biggest developments in home entertainment, over the last couple of years, has been the appearance of Smart TV. Previously these have been called Connected TV or Internet TV but now, latching onto the latest buzz words, they seem to have settled on Smart TV. It's something that will feature on 80% of this year's Panasonic TV range, but what exactly is it?

Put simply, Smart TV transforms your TV from being something to watch Eastenders on, into something that can itself provide the entertainment.

How do you get Smart TV?

To be able to use Smart TV, the first thing you have to do is connect it to your broadband. You can do this with either a LAN cable, or if your TV has Wi-Fi you can use this instead.
Once connected to your broadband, your TV can if you want, also link to your PC. To do this you'll need to make sure the PC is set-up to run as a media server. Newer PCs tend to have this software built-in but you can download & install third-party software from companies like Twonky.

A common misconception is that you have to connect it to your PC. You don't!  The vast majority of things that these TVs can do have nothing to do with your PC at all, but we'll come back to this later on.

What can Smart TV do?

Once your TV is talking to your broadband, you'll be able to access a wealth of online entertainment. Commonly this will come from well known brands such as Facebook, twitter, YouTube or BBC iPlayer.
These are accessed via apps on your TV screen & bring you information that historically you could only get via your PC, SmartPhone or tablet. This means that from the comfort of your sofa, on a large screen, you can catch up with friends via your social networks or watch catch up TV.

Smart TVs can also provide some more practical features such as Skype. By attaching a USB Skype camera, you're able to make videos calls to anyone in the world (free of charge via your broadband connection) that also has Skype. This gives you two big advantages over using a PC.

• Firstly, you can make calls in a more comfortable environment than most studies or home offices allow.
• Secondly (& perhaps more usefully), your friends and family can see you're on-line whenever you're watching TV. This saves them having to phone you first and ask you to turn the PC on.

Some of Panasonic's new generation of Smart TVs allow you to watch TV and use Skype at the same time. This is a great feature if you want to watch the TV & discuss it with your friends simultaneously. 
You can also use Facebook or twitter while watching TV, allowing you to read all the latest tweets or status updates about the show you are watching. This is particularly useful as more TV shows are encouraging viewers to take part in the show through these social networking sites.
There's also a host of other apps that are available on Smart TVs. You'll find that some of these  are already listed in your Smart TV menu. If not, you'll be able to add them via the app store which on Panasonic TVs is called Viera Connect Market. Some of these apps will be free of charge, whilst others will have to be purchased & will vary in price.

You'll find apps that allow you to stream movies direct to your TV, link to a treadmill to help your fitness routine, let you watch your favourite bands in concert or catch up with world news and sport. You can even play games directly on your Smart TV using additional controllers. 

Browse the internet on a Smart TV?

Over that last couple of years, various manufacturers have had apps which let you browse the internet on your Smart TV. This year, on some sets, Panasonic joins them with a full internet browser. Some browsers let you do almost everything that a normal PC or tablet device does, including streaming videos that use Flash, reading your e-mails or using a catch-up TV service.

To help make using your Smart TV easier to use Panasonic have developed a completely new remote control. Coming with their higher end sets, the touch pad remote control lets you scroll through web pages or navigate the menus quickly & easily. You can also connect a USB keyboard to your Smart TV allowing you to type in web addresses or login details with less hassle than a normal remote. Alternatively, you can now control your Panasonic Smart TV with your SmartPhone or tablet device.

What else does a Smart TV do?

New features are being added to Smart TVs all the time. These apps basically act as doorways to internet based services.

If a new service is created the TV simply uses the app to access it. Because the services are not stored on the TV, there are fewer restrictions on what can & can't done with them.

Panasonic recently opened up their system for outside developers to create apps to work on their TVs. One of the more interesting services is from RED Karaoke whose app lets you access & sing along to over 45,000 songs. These songs are played through your TV and you have the words displayed ready for you ready to embarrass yourself in front of friends!

As well as the continuous development of Viera Connect Market, Panasonic is also changing the way we interact with our TV. The 2012 Panasonic range now has two-way communication with your SmartPhone or tablet. This exciting development means that with some TVs you can send websites you're visiting, YouTube videos you're watching or photos on your handheld device directly to the TV screen, making sharing media with the family incredibly easy and enjoyable.

In reverse, you can also send whatever you're watching on TV to some handheld devices. This means you no longer have to miss the crucial moment in the big game or the end of the murder mystery you've been waiting to see if you have to leave the room.

Connecting a PC with Smart TV?

As mentioned earlier, your PC does not necessarily need to be connected to your Smart TV, but there are advantages in doing so. Your PC probably has a lot media stored on it, some of which you've probably forgotten about. This could be home videos, photos, your music collection or downloaded movies.
By connecting your PC to your Smart TV you can liberate this media and see, watch or listen to it in your living room. This is ideal for playing your photos as a slide show when you have a family get-together or to fill the night with music for a party.

One thing that needs to be stressed is that your Smart TV is not a PC. A lot of people assume that once connected they can use all the software and programs on their PC on the TV screen and control it with their TV remote. This is not the case. If you do need to see your PC on the large screen you can do this by simply connecting it to either a HDMI socket or VGA connection. In this situation the TV screen simply becomes your PC monitor.

And Finally

Most 32"+ sets have Smart TV built in, but if you don't want to use them, you don't have too!

Smart TV is not really something to be concerned or worried about. 

Smart TV is not complicated ,you can't press the wrong button and break the TV or the internet!

If you get really stuck you just press the exit button or switch the TV off and start again.
It's something to play with and not to be feared!

We hope this blog has helped you understand a little more about Smart TVs but if you have any queries that you need answering before you buy a new set from us, please feel free to pop in or give us a call.

To see our range of Smart TVs, please visit our website

www.HickmansOldTown.com or come & visit us in store.

You can also keep up to date with our offers & promotions through www.facebook.com/HickmansOldTownLtd

or @HickmansOldTown on twitter.

At Hickmans we provide straight forward advice and information both in store and over the phone. We can demonstrate and advise on all aspects of Smart TV as well as Home Cinema, Blu-Ray, DVD & Hi-Fi. We also now supply domestic appliances from most well know manufacturers. We normally deliver & install most items over £300 free of charge in the local area. We have a dedicated service and repair department and can repair most brands of home entertainment equipment. We are also an authorised Panasonic service centre.