An official statement by LG Electronics has said the new LX9900, a 3D-ready TV, will go on sale in the UK this May. The statement gives full details of the TV’s features, including its chosen method for displaying 3D video.

March 10, 2010 — LG Electronics will begin selling its first 3D-ready TV for the UK’s consumer market this May, according to an official press release. Responding to the massive hype surrounding 3D technology, LG claims to have brought forward the TV’s release date to meet consumer demand. LG’s existing 3D model, the LD920, is currently popping up in pubs around the country in preparation for Sky’s weekly 3D football broadcasts, which are expected to begin in April.

That TV, however, is only available for commercial use, and uses passive filter glasses to separate the images for the left and right eyes — this is a practical option in the pub environment, since the glasses are cheap and effectively disposable. But it means the picture only has half of the vertical resolution, since half of the lines on the TV screen display the image for the left eye, half of them the image for the right eye.

LG’s new LX9900, on the other hand, uses the so-called “alternating picture” technique, whereby the images for the left and right eye display alternately on the screen — left, right, left, right ... and so on. The viewers wear electronic glasses that block off their lenses at high speed in sync with the alternating picture — right, left, right, left — so that each image is only seen by the correct eye. We describe this technology in more detail in our background article 3D Technologies for Cinema and TV Explained.

Needless to say, these glasses cost a lot more than simple polarised filter glasses. In fact, they’ll be sold separately from the LX9900, so that owners can decide how many pairs they want — if they want them at all. After all, the TV will also be able to display 2D content, and many users might only choose to ‘upgrade’ to 3D by buying glasses when sufficient 3D content is available.

The new 3D-ready LX9900 (pictured) shows off LG’s ultra-slim Infinia design: The screen’s bezel is just one centimetre wide.

The LX9900 will be available in 47- and 55-inch versions this May, but LG hasn’t given any indication of pricing. We’ll bring you more news on this as soon as further information comes in.