http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/archive/index.php/t-1236394.html
Myth #1 = The 3D movies of the 1950′s were Anaglyph 3D
FALSE – all the movies made in “the golden years” of 3D were dual strip 35mm using the polarized 3D method (twin cameras/twin projectors). Anaglyph 3D (Red/Cyan) was used in many of the comic books during that time period.
Myth #2 = 3D Movies from the 1950′s were “cheesy” exploitation films with lower string talent
FALSE – Here’s a partial list of some big stars that appeared in front of the 3-D camera: John Wayne, Rita Hayworth, Kathryn Grayson, Howard Keel, Bob Fosse, Robert Mitchum, Linda Darnell, Jack Palance, Edward G. Robinson, Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, Jane Russell, Ray Milland, Grace Kelly, Victor Mature, Robert Stack, Jose Ferrer, Vincent Price, Joan Fontaine, Phil Silvers, Randolph Scott, Charles Bronson, Karl Malden, Ernest Borgnine, Rhonda Fleming, Robert Ryan, Lee Marvin, Virginia Mayo, Lee J. Cobb, Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, Rock Hudson.
Myth #3 = S3D from an optical disc with shutter glasses is brand new
FALSE – In 1985 Victor, Japan introduced 3D VHD. If you are not familiar with this, here is a LINK (http://disclord.tripod.com/vhddiscworld/id1.html ):
Myth #4 = Todays 3D glasses are wired/corded
FALSE – that’s the anti-theft device. :p
ALL of the 3D shutter glasses are wireless. Some use a disposable “coin” lithium battery while others are rechargable.
Myth #5 = 3D means things popping out of the screen
TRUE & FALSE – it used to be that way when it was used solely as a gimmick, but today’s use of 3D is more of an immersive method of getting the audience/viewer closer/into the story unfolding before them.
Interesting quote I found about this:
He liked how James Cameron showed the world that it was “not about poking you in the eye but instead it was pulling you in.”
Myth #6 = All BD players with HDMI 1.3 & BD Live can be upgraded to 3D BD players
FALSE – only the PS3 can be upgraded to play 3D BD’s. The PS3 is a software based BD player. It uses the very powerful Cell BE instead of a SoC (System On a Chip) like all other BD players do which are hardware based players. It uses programming that can be updated and upgraded via firmware. Regular BD players can’t do this.
Myth #7 = 3DTV won’t cost much more than a comparible HDTV
TRUE – about 25% more. Here is a comparison of Panasonic products – assumes you purchase a BD player with your TV. MSRP prices are off Panasonic’s website and articles concerning their 3DTV products. “Street”/retail prices may of course differ.
TC-P50V10 50″ HDTV = $2100
DMP-BD85K BD player = $250
Total = $2350
TC-P50VT20 50″ 3DTV = $2500 (One pair of 3D glasses included)
DMP-BDT300 3D BD player = $400
Total = $2900
Each pair of additional 3D shutter glasses are $150. Depending on the number of persons in your family, it can get much more expensive, in relationship to the cost of 2D HDTV. Of course you don’t get 3D. 
And Panasonic does sell their top of the line 54″ PDP, TC-P54Z1 for $5500. That makes their 3DTV bundle look like a bargin. INCLUDING another 4 pair of 3D glasses! :p
Myth #8 = You need glasses to see 3D in your home
TRUE – either active shutter glasses or passive polarized glasses. And the red/cyan cardboard “glasses” used for the old Anaglyph 3D method. That is for today and the foreseeable future. But in the not too distant future (some say 7 to 10 years), we may be watching 3D in our homes without glasses. There are companies all over the world that are developing for the commerical market, glasses free 3D. They are called Autostereoscopic 3D displays.
Here is a LINK (http://www.3d-forums.com/autostereoscopic-displays-t1.html) that explains briefly how they work.
Myth #9 = You can upgrade your HDTV to a 3DTV
TRUE & FALSE – 120Hz DLP RPTV’s by Mitsubishi that were made as 3D ready, their owners will have the opportunity to purchase later this year, the Mitsubishi 3DC-1000 converter box. This is a 3D format converter that will convert 3D BD, SAT and CBL’s 3D formats into the 3D format that these DLP HDTV’s use, which is Checkerboard LINK (“http://dlp.com/downloads/DLP%203D%20HDTV%20Technology.pdf’) , a 3D format that offers half HD resolution per eye instead of full HD resolution per eye, like the brand new FPD’s do just being released. The frame /refresh rate will be 60 per eye, 120 total.
Again, active shutter glasses will be needed along with an external transmitter/emitter to sync the glasses to the TV that plugs into the back of the set in a special 3 pin VESA connection. You can use the DLP-Link 3D glasses like the XpanD X102 series.
So what about all the other HDTV’s? The ones with 120Hz and 240Hz refresh rates? No – they will not be able to be upgraded to 3DTV’s for a number of technical reasons.
Myth #10 = 3D glasses are interchangeable between 3DTV brands
FALSE – today, the CEMs are using proprietary 3D active shutter glasses for their 3DTVs. A set of Samsung 3D glasses will not work with a Panasonic 3DTV and visa vera. But help is on the way from a company called XpanD Cinema, a seller of both active shutter glasses and 3D cinema equipment for theaters. They will be releasing their X103 LINK (“http://www.xpandcinema.com/products/glasses/media/xpandX103-home.pdf‘ ) Universal IR (Infra Red) 3D active shutter glasses later this year, that will be interchangeable with the major CEM’s like Samsung, LG, Sony, Panasonic and even Nvidia (3D from a PC). The cost will be about the same as the ones being sold by the CEMs
Later in the year they will release; “the holy grail” of 3D active shutter glasses, the X104 series, which will include Bluetooth (Vizio) and DLP-Link along with IR. They will be made out of titanium and will be extremely light. Guesstimate on the cost per pair is $250.
Both the X103s and X104s will be battery powered. They claim a battery life of about 250 hours.
Myth #11 = Ghosting/Crosstalk is a 3D artifact associated with LCD Display Technology
TRUE & FALSE – Ghosting/Crosstalk is when we see more than we are supposed to. In the proper execution of active shutter glasses, the 3D glasses being used almost exclusively with 3DTVs, the mechanics are very simple. The display shows alternating L eye and R eye images in a rapid sequence that is synced to the ASGs which block one eye’s vision, while leaving the other eye’s vision open. If the block is not complete – meaning light (image) is getting through to the desired blocked eye, we see this as a partial image. This is Ghosting/Crosstalk. It can happen on any of the display techs (PDP, LCD, DLP, etc.). It is an issue with the glasses themselves and their ability to throughly block incoming light. Not all ASG’s are created equal. Some perform better than others. And they are “LC” active shutter glasses (as in black level issues).
Another cause of Ghosting/Crosstalk may be response time – how quickly can an image be captured, held, then released to get the next image in line. LCD display’s boast response times of 2ms. How does that compare with PDP? PDP’s response time is on the order of .001ms. That’s 2000X faster than LCD’s response time.
So PDP tech looks great doesn’t it? Well, they too have a chance to exhibit Ghosting/Crosstalk. Another cause of this is the decay time of the phosphors used in PDP’s. Panasonic has prided themselves in using new fast decay time phosphors in their new VT 3DTV’s. So what about the other PDP 3DTV CEM’s?
To be revisited at another time.
Myth #12 – All 3D movies today are shot in Stereoscopic 3D (S3D)
FALSE – it used to be that way. But not lately. A true stereoscopic movie is shot using 2 views – Left & Right. For live action, a special camera rig has two cameras with their lenses spaced approx. 65 mm apart, the same distance our eyes are. A scene is recorded (they used to use film cameras, now they use digital cameras), then when played back in either a theater or at home, we don our glasses and see the two separate images which tell our brain, we are seeing depth. 100% CGI movies don’t use cameras. They use computers to create (called rendering) the 2 separate views.
There is another way to create a 3D movie. Start with a 2D movie, then convert it to a 3D movie either in post production, or after the movie has been made. AFAIK, the first movie converted to 3D was The Nightmare Before Xmas, Tim Burton’s stop motion movie. It was created for and shown in IMAX 3D theaters for Halloween. Just recently, Alice in Wonderland and Clash Of The Titans have been converted to 3D during post. There is talk that other older films may be converted from 2D to 3D for re-releasing in 3D theaters. Such titles as Star Wars, Lord Of The Rings, and just recently, 300 have been discussed and test footage has been created. James Cameron has said he will be re-releasing Titanic in 3D in 2012 for the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the famous ocean liner.
So how do these 2D to 3D conversions compare to movie shot in S3D? Not as good is the popular opinion.
But . . . not all 2D to 3D conversions are created equal. Just recently, Toy Story and Toy Story 2 were re-released briefly in theaters in 3D. What they do for a 100% CGI movie is re-render the movie to add a second view to make them truly stereoscopic 3D.
Myth #13 = Hollywood and the Blu-ray Disc Association announce 3D Blu-ray
TRUE – it is a myth. The BDA did finalize the specifications for 3D BD in mid December 2009 and yes some of the Hollywood studios did announce some 3D BD titles at CES 2010 but there is a catch. Of the 7 titles announced, 6 are exclusives to be used as giveaways for people who buy a 3DTV and 3D BD player from Sony, Panasonic and Samsung. The 7th title is a Disney 3D title for Q4. Details for these (7) 3D BD titles can be found in this Forum under the thread title “3D BD . . . What’s Going On?”
Who ever heard of a new product launch – 3D BD players – with no content? None of the 6 titles are available for purchase to the general public even though they are encoded using the AVC-MVC codec which allows them to be played in all BD legacy players, in 2D only of course.
A BIG . . . . :confused:
Myth #14 = All people can see 3D
FALSE – between 2% and 12% of all people are considered Stereo Blind which means they lack depth perception. This can be caused by:
•Medical disorders that prevent the eyes focusing and/or aligning correctly (e.g. amblyopia, strabismus, optic nerve hypoplasia).
•Loss of vision in one eye.
If you are able to see the 3D effect but it causes you discomfort, you may have a mild binocular disorder.
A person who is able to see in full 3D is called stereo-acute.
Myth #15 = The 3D in Theaters is different than the 3D we will see at Home
FALSE – both venues will offer the same 3D – Stereoscopic 3D. Two views consisting of seperate Left and Right images, offset by the distance our eyes are apart = 65mm.
Both require 3D glasses to be worn. The difference is how the 2 views will be presented to us. In the theaters, the majority method is 3D through polarized light which uses inexpensive glasses where there are two different filters in the glasses – one for the left eye and one for the right eye. Each filter blocks one wavelength of light while letting the other through. This can be done with a single projector (RealD) or with dual projectors (IMAX Digital & IMAX 15/70) depending on the 3D presentation format. All require a silver screen to maintain the polarization back to the viewer and to increase the brightness of the two images. Dolby 3D, also a passive 3D presentation system uses a special color filtering system that changes the values of colored light between our eyes allowing two images to be projected on a normal white screen and still allow true S3D via the special filters in the glasses.
For the home, Active Shutter Glasses is the almost exclusive method of delivering S3D. The two views are flashed on the display in alternating L & R images and the display is synced to the powered (active) glasses so one eye is blocked via the liquid crystals going black, while the other eye is open (liquid crystals going clear). This is happening at 60 FPS per eye, alternating L & R eyes – one eye open and one eye blocked. This is called the Frame Sequential (aka Page Flip) 3D format, the 3D format of 3D BD. XpanD Cinema also uses this presentation in their 3D Cinema system though they have few installations in the USA.
For the home, there will be two other 3D presentation formats to accommodate 3D from CBL and SAT; Side-by-Side and Over/Under (aka Top/Bottom). Both will use active shutter glasses.
Myth #16 = All 3DTVs requires 3D content to show 3D
FALSE – some of the CEMs have added a feature that allows 2D to 3D conversion on the fly. This means that you can use any video source (HD will probably look the best) and watch your favorite programming in “pseudo” 3D with the ASGs. The results are mixed – from poor to great according to those that have used it/seen it.
Myth #17 = You will need new a HDMI cable for 3D
FALSE. Both HDMI 1.3 and 1.4 have the same speed/bandwidth rating which is 10.2 Gbps. All that is needed is an HDMI 1.3 Category 2 High Speed cable.
NOTE: If the CEMs decide to incorporate the new 1.4 feature called Ethernet Over HDMI, which allows a single cable to be used instead of both an HDMI cable and an Ethernet cable, then yes, a new cable will be required. As of this writing, this feature has not been incorporated in any 1.4 rated equipment
Myth #18 = 3D is a fad.
FALSE. How can you call something that has been with us as a commercial presentation product since 1952 a fad? Isn’t a fad something that develops overnight, and as quickly as it is popular, it disappears shortly afterward. Like the Hula Hoop or the Pet Rock or wearing Day Glow colored clothing.
58 years seems like an awfully long fad to me.
Myth #19 = 3D is THE cutting edge of movie technology
FALSE. It is exceeded by 4D . . . presenting in 3D plus using in-theater physical effects such as wind, rain, motion seats and odors/smells. The very first 4D film was Michael Jackson’s Captain EO (1986) which played at Disney theme parks. It is one of 10 ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4-D_film ) films done in 4D.
But 4D itself proceeds Captain EO by 24 years with a failed invention called a Sensorama Machine built back in 1962 LINK (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sensorama)
Myth #20 = The IR (infrared) radiation from an emitter (for Active Shutter Glasses) can cause the wearer cancer.
FALSE. This was recently claimed by a third world doctor but in reality, it really is nothing more then a myth because . . .
An important distinction that affects the health risks from radiation is whether the energy is ionizing or non-ionizing.
Ionizing radiation is high-frequency radiation that has enough energy to remove an electron from (ionize) an atom or molecule. Ionizing radiation has enough energy to damage the DNA in cells, which in turn may lead to cancer. Gamma rays, x-rays, some high-energy UV rays, and some sub-atomic particles such as alpha particles and protons are forms of ionizing radiation.
Non-ionizing radiation is low-frequency radiation that does not have enough energy to remove electrons or directly damage DNA. Low-energy UV rays, visible light, infrared rays, microwaves, and radio waves are all forms of non-ionizing radiation. Aside from UV rays, these types of radiation are not known to increase cancer risk.LINK
( http://www.cancer.org/Cancer/CancerCauses/OtherCarcinogens/MedicalTreatments/radiation-exposure-and-cancer )