Samsung, LG differ on 3D TV standards

Bragging rights, business supremacy at stake for Korean tech giants

By Kim Yoo-chul

What would the consumer electronics industry be without standards wars?

And the latest competition for technology bragging rights is between Korean heavyweights Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics as they vow to thump the other in the emerging market for three-dimensional (3D)-enabled flat-screen televisions.

Although high prices and lack of a content ecosystem has so far made 3D televisions a hard sell to consumers, the increasing number of products on the shelves, as well as the wealth of stereoscopic entertainment content, appears to be readying the market segment for a significant jump.

Samsung and LG both are desperate to get out of the gate early in 3D televisions, but the companies are betting on different technology, and the industry watchers believe the competition between the two Korean electronics makers could have a crucial role in shaping the 3D television standard wars.

Betting on the right standards will also be crucial for the companies to better achieve business sustainability as well as more business partners and clients.

The Koreans benefit from their dual strength in finished products and parts. Samsung, the world’s leading seller of flat-screen televisions, is also the top provider of liquid crystal displays (LCDs). LG has the backing of LG Display, which trails Samsung as the runner-up LCD provider.

The 3D televisions that are currently available to consumers require them to wear clunky, goggle-like eyewear to view stereoscopic content.

Despite Toshiba’s recent announcement of the release of a ``glasses-free’’ model soon, experts believe the industry is at least five years away from producing 3D televisions that provide acceptable viewing experience to the average consumer without the need for special glasses.

These glasses are where Samsung and LG differentiate in technology. Samsung is promoting ``active’’ glasses, which work by quickly blocking each eye in sequence, while LG’s glasses employ ``passive’’ technology, which use overlapping images and polarized lenses to simulate depth in images.

Industry experts point out that the Samsung’s active approach is capable of producing better and more natural 3D images, and another knock to LG’s passive approach is that it requires a front-projection system to complement the television set.

Passive 3D technology has a clear advantage in price competitiveness as the polarized glasses are significantly cheaper than the active ones.

``This is certainly a fun and exciting battle to watch. LG is hoping to align with LG Display and LG Chem, which also has impressive strength in producing electronics materials, and the new chief executive Koo Bon-joon, of LG’s founding family, will certainly be assertive in pushing forward the company’s 3D television efforts that had been severely lagging behind Samsung,’’ said a senior industry official, who asked not to be named, Tuesday.

Pulling out the trump card

Samsung and LG's different approaches in technology were evident at the recent ``IMID 2010’’ exhibition in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, where Samsung’s television boss Yoon Boo-keun was busy touting the company’s 3D-capable LCD panels optimized for active glasses.

The products displayed by Samsung also boasted a 240 hertz refresh rate that allows for sharper, high-definition (HD)-level pictures on 3D televisions.

LG Display, on the other hand, was exhibiting a variety of screens designed for passive glasses, including 47- and 84-inch screens and a 31-inch active matrix organic light emitting diode (AMOLED) panel.

``Samsung’s active glasses enable more vivid images, but LG’s approach can make the products much cheaper. The competition is great for the industry as it would improve the development in technologies and penetrate the new products faster to the market,’’ said one American buyer attending the technology fair.

Kwon Young-soo, chief executive of LG Display, told reporters on the sidelines of the exhibition that passive technology has a better chance of becoming mainstream in the 3D televisions, including for products that are soon to hit the market.

To reduce the gap in picture quality, Kwon said the company is concentrating on polishing technologies to reduce flickering in the glasses.

``Active glasses are more inconvenient than passive ones, and have more concerns related to health risks,’’ Kwon claimed.

Samsung is printing health warnings on its 3D televisions and glasses, although the company dismisses the claims that the active approach could be more hazardous.

About 70 percent of LG’s 3D televisions will be equipped with passive technology, as the company looks to cut into Samsung’s early lead in the market quickly.

LG has company in the passive 3D market. American television maker Vizio will be using LG Display’s passive glasses for its 3D televisions that will be released later this year, according to numerous industry sources.

Chang Won-kie, the head of Samsung’s LCD division, reassured reporters at the tech fair that the company’s predominant focus will continue to be active technology.

Yoon said the company doesn’t have immediate plans to adopt passive technology for its televisions, while also noting that it is receiving increasing orders for active glasses from Japan’s Sony, a major television rival that doubles as a business partner in LCDs and other key components.

``We’ll see who wins. Things will get interesting quickly,’’ said an LG spokesman.