Are you excited by the prospect of 3D or does it leave you cold?

[Wightknight]

Many of the reports coming from IFA are heralding 3D TV as the next great thing. Despite being an early adopter of DVD and an aficionado of Blu-ray and HD TV, I cannot get excited over 3D. It just seems like a huge amount of hype from an industry desperate to generate new sales and create a technological advantage over their competitors.

Have any of you seen a demonstration with some of the new equipment being developed? Will it blow me away when I finally get to see a proper demonstration? And finally ... how am I going to break it to my wife that we may need to upgrade again?

 

[Alec]

Have'nt seen it. Still leaves me freezing cold tho.

 

[Andrew Everard]

Wightknight:Many of the reports coming from IFA are heralding 3D TV as the next great thing. Despite being an early adopter of DVD and an aficionado of Blu-ray and HD TV, I cannot get excited over 3D. It just seems like a huge amount of hype from an industry desperate to generate new sales and create a technological advantage over their competitors.

As I said...

Wightknight:And finally ... how am I
going to break it to my wife that we may need to upgrade again?

Well, you could try telling her she'll look seriously cool sitting watching TV in dark glasses...

 

[Wightknight]

I have just seen Andrew's blog on the subject. Very helpful and it just confirms the way many of us are feeling.

 

[Clare Newsome]

I'm feeling more disposed towards 3D than I was pre-IFA - the 3D sports clips (especially duelling Formula 1 cars) in Panasonic's demo were the first i've seen that've made me think "I'd watch this". But then the Avatar preview left me cold - looked just like one of my stepson's PS3 games....

....and then there's the glasses, the cost, the logistics (hell, Bernie Ecclestone hasn't even gone HD yet, let alone 3D HD). And that's without considering the differing standards/technologies/implementations. Please god, not another format war

 

[Anonymous]

hmmm , 3d eh , the next big thing ?? , well maybe , the trouble is , the tv makers wont spend a fortune developing it to the point that its worth getting into , they will all rush to get the first 3d tvs out ahead of each other , probably charge silly money , to those of us that are silly enough to buy what would be basically prototypes , then as we keep buying the newer , more fine tuned tvs we will be guinee pigs paying to be part of the experiment , er , ill be giving 3d tvs a miss for quite some time i think ......

 

[Anonymous]

I wish 'these' companies would make up their mind on technologies, yeah its great we can acheive this type of thing and maybe it will be come the norm for thr rich and famous but at the moment it doesn't really warent it. As I said in the article its self, what next after 3D tv, LED 3D TV? OLED 3D Wireless streaming tv? tv's without a box will be next or somewhere I have read about projecting tv on all four walls for a full 3D view... whatever next... Roll up tv's or in a newspaper.

Again its great for technology but confusing as hell for us the consumer... I wonder if they will make a TV that you can actually take apart and replace/upgrade it like a PC?... that way if the technology does come out they have hopefully left a space for it to slot in

Or if I just want to upgrade my speakers / or processing chip to enable 3D tv I can....

James

PS. should I paten that idea... hmmmmm

 

[Andrew Everard]

james9002uk:whatever next... Roll up tv's or in a newspaper.

What, like this you mean?

 

[Anonymous]

3D..... I get migraines already (and don't get me started on those energy saving light bulbs). No desire to inflict more on myself.

 

[Anonymous]

Obviously you need special glasses to watch 3D! I only have one eye so does that exclude me from watching 3D?

 

[strapped for cash]

One of the most cringe-inducing links I've ever seen. Looks like a blast if you're OFFENSIVE TERM REMOVED BY MODS (can I say that and still be considered politically correct)?
(No - MODS)

 

[Anonymous]

3d does not bother me at the moment.

Let everyone fight it out see whos best and wait a little for prices to drop.

Just bought krp500a, and im very happy with that.

 

[Anonymous]

I'm not interested in 3d tvs either. I will watch avatar to see if it does change cinema forever, but I am divided on it. I am always on the lookout for a good epic and James Cameron's return to films is certainly an event, and one I hope to enjoy. Having said that, I saw the trailer (on youtube) and it looked like some cut scenes from halo so not great - but I wouldn't mind it failing just to shoot down the whole 3d movement stemming from the industry since a lot is riding on avatar.

One concern is that there may be a tendency for 3d films to have an over reliance on special effects (obviously) with story, character development and everything left to one side.

My main objection (which Andrew mentions in his blog) is the potential for studios to make old classics 3d. I hope they resist the urge though I doubt it.

Maybe a what hi fi poll on this matter, as suggested earlier, would be a good idea. Any thoughts what hi fi?

Although most people on this forum (myself included) are not really ready to embrace 3d, on empireonline (where there are mainly film enthusiasts) there doesn't seem to be quite so much opposition.

 

[Anonymous]

Zero interest.

 

[strapped for cash]

Sorry. Won't happen again... promise.

 

[Andy Clough]

Like Clare, felt watching Avatar in 3D during the Panasonic demo at IFA was just like watching a computer game - didn't grip me.

Talking to several of the manufacturers behind the scenes, get the feeling they're not yet convinced there's the demand/content to make 3D TV a success, but they have to develop the technology just in case it takes off. Wouldn't rush in myself.

 

[Sliced Bread]

Personally I'm not looking forward to it at all!

It will be a very long time before 3d becomes 'watchable' in my opinion...and what happens to 2D cinema in the mean time?

My guess is that film studios will put allot of effort into producing 3d films and directing that film from a 3d point of view, which is likely to mean that many of these films will not translate well into 2d films. Does this mean that we will have to put up with mediocre 2d cinematography until 3D TV's are at a point where they are actually worth buying?!?

Also, who wants to sit in front of their TV wearing a pair of glasses all the time? What if you already wear glasses...do you have to sit there wearing two pairs of specs, looking stupid and feeling distinctly uncomfortable?

I really hope it fails, until a point in the future when good quality "glassesless" (I'm using all the correct terminology today) 3D is produced, that is both convincing and comfortable.