LG 3D TV ads misled buyers, judges watchdog
Passive 3D can't be 1080p 'full HD'
LG has had is knuckles rapped by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) following a complaint made about its 3D TVs by consumers arch-rival telly maker Samsung.
The bigger of the two South Korean giants said LG was wrong to say the Cinema 3D TV, which uses passive 3D technology, could produce a "full HD 3D picture" or that its wide viewing angle would allow viewers to "sit where you want, how you want" and still get "the same immersive experience".
These claims, Samsung said, mislead consumers.
LG said neither Samsung allegation was valid, but while the ASA agreed with LG about the claim that punters can sit where they please, it sided with Samsung on the use of "full HD".
LG argued that "full HD" is a generic term for a device with a 1920 x 1080 resolution screen, and that was true even though its passive 3D TVs show two 1920 x 540 images simultaneously since both appear on a 1920 x 1080 screen.
The ASA was unmoved, and insisted that a full HD picture means not merely a 1920 x 1080 screen but also an image that's at least 1920 x 1080 on that screen.
The agency also said LG was wrong to state that the 3D picture was 1080p when, by its use of passive 3D technology, which interlaces right- and left-eye images, so the 3D view is, at best, 1080i.
LG was told not to advertise its passive 3D TVs using this terminology, and to make it more clear to consumers that its tellies use passive not active 3D. ®
COMMENTS
Can't fault the ruling
LG were playing fast and loose and got called. At least the ASA were doing their job right.
Up to Full HD
You can just feel it coming can't you :-(
I think that 1080p is FullHD and 1080i is only HD ready. My first flat panel was labeled HD ready and could display 720p and 1080i, my current 1080 24p and is labeled FullHD.
For the active 3D you display a full picture for one eye, then display a full picture for the other. So you have the full 1920*1080 picture for both eyes. That's why the refresh rate is so high on those screens - it allows the picture to flick between the two fast enough so that you as a viewer don't notice (hahaha).
I think :)
Not 3D - I dislike the term 3D, it's stereoscopic. If it was 3D I could move around and see different things, and you can't.
My understanding is that 1080p and 1080i are both Full HD just that 1080p sends a whole 1080 lines in one chunk and 1080i sends 540 lines per chunk so needs two chunks to fill the same 1080 lines. Progressive "p" does 1080 lines sequentially, interlaced "i" does even lines then odd lines; same end result.
For 3D, you can either display 1080 lines of half width picture per eye, or 540 lines of full width picture per eye. Neither is, nor can provide, "Full HD" which is the basis of the ruling. To achieve Full HD they'd need to double the vertical or horizontal resolution on the display.
