Betting that the technology will become one of the big technological trends of the next decade, LG are launching a 47in 3D TV in Korea next month.

Unfortunately, unlike another prototype they are working on, LG's 47LH50 requires the use of stereoscopic glasses to create the illusion of 3D.

Polarized 3D glasses create the illusion of three-dimensional images by restricting the light that reaches each eye. Initially, two images are projected and superimposed onto a screen through orthogonal polarizing filters. The viewer wears low-cost eyeglasses which also contain a pair of orthogonal polarizing filters. As each filter passes only that light which is similarly polarized and blocks the orthogonally polarized light, each eye sees only its separately polarized image, producing a three-dimensional effect.

Using 'lenticular' lenses, LG's code named M4200D does not require special glasses to achieve a 3D effect. LG's approach uses transparent cylindrical lenses known as lenticules. Lenticules are placed onto a transparent sheet, which is fixed onto an LCD. The transparency of the lenticular sheet is crucial because it allows for full brightness and contrast.

With LG predicting sales in the millions for the next decade, the Korean manufacturer has confidence in the future of 3D TV technology. Whether the consumer shares LG's optimism remains to be seen ...