3D is the newest technology being promoted for both projectors and LED/Plasma TV’s. 3D requires you to wear special glasses to see the image in 3D, the style of which depends on the type of 3D being used. There are 2 main types of 3D technologies:

• Active
• Passive

These both produce a similar 3D image but do it in totally different ways—one way being much cheaper than the other.

Active shutter 3D is the way most people will view 3D in their homes—whether it is through a projector or LED/Plasma TV. To see 3D on this type of system you will need a special pair of glasses that contain a system that shuts off the light to one eye and then the other. While the glasses are blocking light to one eye, the TV is showing an image to the other eye, then the process switches. The TV or projector then shows a separate image shot at a slightly different angle to your other eye. This synchronised shuttering basically provides a video stream for each eye, each very slightly different. Because your brain is translating two separate signals from your eyes all the time, it’s fooled into seeing 3D. The main issue with 3D in this active shutter system is that you lose anywhere from 50-70% of your brightness making a dull image that can strain your eyes. This is an issue for low light output projectors.

The passive system, by contrast, uses a very simple set of glasses. These use circular polarization to provide each of your eyes a different image from the same source. In cinemas, this works because two images are projected on to the screen in quick succession. You can do this in a home theatre room using 2 projectors but at this stage, the technology is very expensive—around $70,000 to $100,000!

Crosstalk is another thing you will hear when talking about 3D. Crosstalk is an undesired effect which occurs when portions of the image intended to be seen by one eye become visible to the other eye. This ‘leakage’ of information between the right and left visual image may occur with virtually any 3D display technology, with the cheaper LED projectors being the worst. In a perfect world, there would be 0% crosstalk however in the real world there will always be some level of crosstalk. The goal for any manufacturer is the keep the crosstalk low enough that it is not visible under normal circumstances.

When selecting projectors for 3D, the performance order is as follows:

– 3 Chips DLP Projector 1st
– Single Chip DLP Projector 2nd
– LCD projector 3rd

For more information on 3D or to book an appointment with one of our designers please contact us on

Ph 1300 795 469
E: sales@mccormickconcepts.com.au