3D compatible A/V Amp

[ChrisWaller]

I got some very helpful responses to my previous post about a suitable upgrade to my Yamaha RX-V657 A/V Amp. One thing that was mentioned was that some newer amps are 3D compatible. Now I'm pretty clear that this is a question of the way it handles HDMI, but I wondered what it entailed. I don't want to saddle myself with an Amp that will work now but be useless (or limited) should I decide to take the plunge and get a 3D TV later (I've already got a PS3, so 3D is not out of the quesiton).

What makes an Amp 3D compatible?

What will be the impact of having a non-3D compatible Amp should I get a 3D TV (is it as simple as no longer being able to pass the HDMI through the amp and instead having to connect via optical/co-axial and use HDMI for video only - NB, would this mean that I'd lose HD sound or are these output through optical/co-axial as well as HDMI?)?

 

[Andrew Everard]

An amp needs an HDMI 1.4a repeater to pass through 3D content from a suitable Blu-ray player to a 3D-capable TV.

So if you try to do it via HDMI using a non-3D-capable (3D-incapable?) amp, you'll get full-fat HD sound, but no 3D pictures. And optical is unable to handle HD audio - it can only do the standard DD/DTS stuff.

 

[Anonymous]

all this talk about 3D tv and amp has got me thinking, if a tv has a refresh rate of 200htz does that mean it can handle 3D content or is there more to it than meets the eye