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LG has slinked into the 3D market with a gorgeous new active-shutter TV called the LX9900. Unusually, the Korean giant is also producing a passive system, the LD920, designed specifically for use in bars and other public locations to give people the opportunity to watch Sky Sports in 3D over a pint of lager.
The LX9900 has a super-slim 32mm depth and LED illumination, and comes in two sizes, 47 and 55 inches. You can see from the glorious image above that these TVs have a very petite outer bezel, with a width of just 10mm. The last time a TV had a bezel that thin, it was made by Toshiba, and we liked it a great deal.
As well as 3D support, the LX9900 also has a built-in Freeview HD receiver, which gives you access to boring old HD channels from ITV and the BBC.
Expect four HDMI sockets, invisible speakers and LG’s Netcast Internet software with the usual widgets and YouTube access. The LX9900 can also connect to your home network wirelessly, and can play media from any PC capable of dealing with DLNA streaming requests. Picture processing also gets a boost, with TruMotion 400Hz, which should make motion ultra-smooth, and ensure 3D images don’t suffer from any artefacts related to after-images.
LG’s passive effort, LD920, is a 47-inch TV and will be available only for commercial use. It uses a system that relies on cheap polarised glasses and cannot currently offer a Full HD picture. This is because to make the polarisation work both 2D images must appear on-screen at the same time — essentially halving the resolution available on-screen.
For Sky, this isn’t a problem, because its 3D system doesn’t offer Full HD at 1080p, and from what we’ve heard, the system works very well indeed. A passive system also means pubs can provide 3D glasses and not spend thousands of pounds doing so.
Bad news on pricing though: the LX990 will cost between £2,500 and £3,000 for the 47-inch model and £3,600-£4,000 for the 55-inch model. What’s more, LG isn’t intending to include 3D glasses with them, so add on another £100 for each pair you need to buy. It’ll be out in May.
