LG CF3D 3D SXRD Projector

LG first introduced the CF3D projector at CES last January, but as one rep told me, "now it's real" and expected to ship by the end of the year for $15,000. The CF3D is unique in that it uses two completely separate SXRD imaging engines and lamps—one for each eye—and a single lens. Also, it uses passive polarization, so it needs a special silver screen and inexpensive polarized glasses. Another unique feature is a built-in camera that monitors the projected image and automatically adjusts the convergence and light balance between left and right. The CF3D can accept four 3D formats—frame-packed, frame-sequential, and frame-compatible side-by-side and over-under.

Although the demo wasn't perfect, I have to say that it knocked me out in certain ways. It used a 100-inch-wide, curved Vutec silver screen, but it wasn't in a completely light-controlled environment. Clips I saw included slow-moving underwater shots, footage from Hawaii, and Legends of Flight, a documentary about airplanes.

The image was pretty soft, but what struck me most was the exceptional smoothness of motion and how objects that extended in front of the screen plane looked rock solid—in virtually all other 3D I've seen so far, objects in the far foreground tend to break up. I did see some occasional momentary judder, and a few objects exhibited some obvious crosstalk, but it was not consistent throughout the shot, so I'm not sure what was going on there. I learned later that the projector had not been calibrated, and I suspect the firmware isn't quite finalized. But I kept thinking how comfortable it was to watch, more so than any other 3D I've seen. That alone makes me want to take a much closer look in our studio, which I hope to do soon.

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