This can work assuming your notebook will have the right video driver.

This won't work. The monitor can't handle frame packing video 3DBD because it's a PC monitor; the graphic card is supposed to send the frame packing video unpacked.

Either option, you may want to get the Optoma 3D-XL (which is hard to get in the US but apparently on sale in UK and HK) which can handle frame packing, side-by-side video.

PAL-to-NTSC converters have been available for a while so they will work. You just have to make sure that the device can handle Macrovision copy protection that Astro employs. Get one converter, send it to your family and see if they can make it work.

The US 3DTV you want must also handle 50Hz 1080i video. That's the video format that Astro B.yond handles.

Look into the Vizio/LG passive glasses 3DTV.

How big is the Big Cinema?
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No. What you quoted is just the power requirements. That means the HDTV can handle 220/240v 50Hz; however, just to be safe go to a store that has one of these TVs and look at the back panel or ask the salesperson for the manual to check for the dual-voltage compatibility.

The US HD broadcast standards is 1080i 30 (1080i at 30 fields per second). When you double the frames, it becomes 60 hence 60 Hz, which matches their electricity frequency - 110v 60Hz. The Europe HD broadcast standard is 1080i 25 (25 fields per second) or 50Hz. Astro B.yond follows European standards. 1080p24/25/30 is the Blu-ray Disc standard since BD has more bandwidth than broadcast.

Most HDTVs that are sold here and in Europe can handle all SD/HD broadcast standard. Most HDTVs sold in the US (with the exception of projectors) can handle only the US SD/HD standards. Sometimes even the BD players are affected.

The ports are just ports. It doesn't come with decoding chips. Think of a port as a hose. You can pump any liquid on one end and the liquid will come out on the other end. However if you want to pump dirty water into the hose and expect clean water to come out the other end, you need a filtering device placed in the middle of that chain.

The Acer will work with a PC with the right 3D graphics card. It won't work with 3D BD player because the player will send frame-packed video. An illustration of frame-packed video is below.



The Acer can accept the frame packed video at 120Hz. But it won't know which images to display for the left and right eye, or what to do with the black blanking video. 3DHDTVs have the chips that can know how to decode a 3D signal and output it as such. That's why if you want to use the Acer with a BD player, you need the Optoma 3D-XL which costs US$500.
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