Active Vs. Passive 3D TVs

So, which kind of 3D is better for your viewing needs? It depends heavily on your standards for image quality, as well as your level of tolerance for flickering, flashing imagery. Due to the nature of its image blending, Passive 3D video automatically cuts the vertical resolution of the video in half. Active 3D, on the other hand, maintains its full resolution at all times, so the picture is larger and clearer.

However, that image quality comes with a big asterisk. As we mentioned before, the way Active 3D is rendered would produce a lot of crosstalk, blur, and visible flickering without the 3D glasses, especially if the screen has a low refresh rate. Even with the glasses, though, you’ll almost definitely still catch a decent amount of that crosstalk, which can be uncomfortable for your eyes after prolonged viewing. 

It’s also worth noting that, since they’re separate devices, Active 3D glasses can be expensive and hard to use, which is cited as one of the reasons this 3D TV model was a failure. On the other hand, you can use any old pair of 3D glasses you’ve got lying around for Passive 3D. If you care a lot about image resolution and are generally resilient against flickering, you might get more out of an Active 3D TV. Otherwise, you might want to spare your eyes the strain and settle for Passive 3D.