Projector Lamps Expand to 3D Technology

3D used to be a special treat at the movie theater as we all entered in, fully accessorized in our paper glasses, ready to be amazed. Today, 3D is dominating the movie screen, entering homes on televisions and even capturing young minds in hand-held game systems. To enjoy such viewing, special projectors and projector lamps are necessary, and because they offer somewhat different innovations, they can also be more expensive.

This technology and associated projector lamps were explored in this Hidden Wires blog as the author examined opportunities, concerns, technology and more that is involved with 3D viewing. The main concern expressed was a lack of understanding among manufacturers who may be trying to develop 3D components, without fully understanding the technology and all that is involved.

In terms of projector lamps, there are two broad groups of projector technology that provide 3D imaging: passive and active. Passive technology uses various methods to filter the different images to the left and right eye. Common filter methods can include circular and linear polarization, as well as light interference filters.

Active technology for use with projector lamps relies on electronic glasses that will “actively” interact with the display. The display makes use of alternative frame sequencing to present alternative images to the left and right eye. To block or pass light through to each eye, liquid crystal shutter glasses are used. This process occurs in synchronization with the alternate images from the display.

When dealing with projection technology and projector lamps, the suitability for different applications is more pronounced between the passive and active systems. Commercial cinemas tend to use passive projection systems as the focus on cheap glasses take priority and polarized glasses cost mere pennies.

The projection systems that use these glasses are expensive, however, and do require special silver projection screens to preserve the polarization. All of the passive systems that are presented to consumers today use a dual-projection system which effectively doubles the cost to the consumer when compared with an equivalent 2D system.

The consumer environment is more likely to see active systems as they use one projector to present alternative images to each eye. And, because the projector and the projector lamp must do twice the work, premium processing technology is required. The good news is that the higher-quality projector systems that are available today require few add-ons, other than programming and synchronization with the transmitter to enable 3D use.