Interwebology: 3D TV in HD? OMG!
At the end of 2009 the annual tradition of predicting the coming year's next big thing was in full swing. The start of a new decade prompted people to look even further, trying to suss out a trend to watch for a full 10 years. For those with a technological bent, 3D television reigned supreme.
The first major electronics event of the year, CES, was dominated by companies showcasing their versions of the technology as the market wasted no time in bringing this popular prediction to life. Vizio is primed to release a line of 3D HDTVs ranging from 47” to 72” in August, including a 58” Cinema Wide Display with 21x9 aspect ratio. They are in stiff competition with Samsung, however, who were the first to announce a line of 3D HDTVs ranging from 40” to 55”, though the Korean giant has yet to announce a release date.
Sony made their announcement after the other two but is promising their product in time for the World Cup in June, including a version that will be 3D capable but sold without the transmitter or glasses for those who are still hooked on 2D but want to be ready for the eventual transition.
Many are wondering about the immediate future of the technology since the product itself is nothing without content. 3D feature films like Coraline, the upcoming Spiderman reboot, and the record-breaking success of Avatar have certainly shown that the technology is viable in theatres ranging from single-screen cinemas to massive IMAX venues, but having enough content to float a 24-hour channel, and enough channels to justify a $3,000 technologically compliant investment is an entirely different matter.
Eager to rise to the challenge, ESPN and Discovery have both announced channels launching this year, and Comcast is already discussing pricing for American markets. Talks of trying to retrofit 3D technologies into 2D televisions haven't gone far as unseen portions of the background image would have to be retroactively approximated to produce the added dimension of the image, a time investment that many find difficult to justify.
For a substantially smaller investment, 3D technology can come to the desktop rather than the living room. Acer showcased a 23.6” desktop monitor at CES that can be combined with NVIDIA glasses and a graphics card for a combined price of around $600, allowing you to watch 3D DVDs as readily as conventional 2D films.
Or, for no investment at all, a pair of homemade blue and red glasses will bring to life 3D HD content that the National Film Board intends to make accessible online, as well as a selection of YouTube videos that are already available.
There is some skepticism about the emerging technology, however, both from professionals and laymen. Developers of Virtual Reality headsets for video games in the 1990s used a similar technology to that which is currently used in 3D entertainment, called Parallax. When the 3D viewing experience is simulated, it is synthesized via different ocular cues from those employed in natural depth perception, and switching from 3D to the real world can cause binocular dysphoria. This disorientation is, for many, a brief pang within a few minutes transitioning between the film experience and reality, but for some it can last for hours. Worryingly, there is little data about how exaggerated this effect could become with regular, prolonged exposure such as you might experience if the technology were in your living room. In fact, none of the current manufacturers have conducted health and safety studies on this condition.
From a less scientific standpoint, some have wondered about the virtues of adding depth to certain forms of entertainment. Sporting events featuring fans showing their bloated support in body paint, and pornography that zooms in on some body parts that decrease in sex appeal the more they fly out of the television are both off-putting prospects. Additionally, communal viewing events such as sporting events would either require the host to provide enough headsets for their guests, or make it incumbent upon attendees to bring their own.
While some market researchers expect 3D television set sales to rank in the tens of millions within the next five years, this shift represents more of a sudden mutation than gradual evolution for the technology, and it remains to be seen whether the decade will close with as much optimism over the format as there was when it opened.
The first major electronics event of the year, CES, was dominated by companies showcasing their versions of the technology as the market wasted no time in bringing this popular prediction to life. Vizio is primed to release a line of 3D HDTVs ranging from 47” to 72” in August, including a 58” Cinema Wide Display with 21x9 aspect ratio. They are in stiff competition with Samsung, however, who were the first to announce a line of 3D HDTVs ranging from 40” to 55”, though the Korean giant has yet to announce a release date.
Sony made their announcement after the other two but is promising their product in time for the World Cup in June, including a version that will be 3D capable but sold without the transmitter or glasses for those who are still hooked on 2D but want to be ready for the eventual transition.
Many are wondering about the immediate future of the technology since the product itself is nothing without content. 3D feature films like Coraline, the upcoming Spiderman reboot, and the record-breaking success of Avatar have certainly shown that the technology is viable in theatres ranging from single-screen cinemas to massive IMAX venues, but having enough content to float a 24-hour channel, and enough channels to justify a $3,000 technologically compliant investment is an entirely different matter.
Eager to rise to the challenge, ESPN and Discovery have both announced channels launching this year, and Comcast is already discussing pricing for American markets. Talks of trying to retrofit 3D technologies into 2D televisions haven't gone far as unseen portions of the background image would have to be retroactively approximated to produce the added dimension of the image, a time investment that many find difficult to justify.
For a substantially smaller investment, 3D technology can come to the desktop rather than the living room. Acer showcased a 23.6” desktop monitor at CES that can be combined with NVIDIA glasses and a graphics card for a combined price of around $600, allowing you to watch 3D DVDs as readily as conventional 2D films.
Or, for no investment at all, a pair of homemade blue and red glasses will bring to life 3D HD content that the National Film Board intends to make accessible online, as well as a selection of YouTube videos that are already available.
There is some skepticism about the emerging technology, however, both from professionals and laymen. Developers of Virtual Reality headsets for video games in the 1990s used a similar technology to that which is currently used in 3D entertainment, called Parallax. When the 3D viewing experience is simulated, it is synthesized via different ocular cues from those employed in natural depth perception, and switching from 3D to the real world can cause binocular dysphoria. This disorientation is, for many, a brief pang within a few minutes transitioning between the film experience and reality, but for some it can last for hours. Worryingly, there is little data about how exaggerated this effect could become with regular, prolonged exposure such as you might experience if the technology were in your living room. In fact, none of the current manufacturers have conducted health and safety studies on this condition.
From a less scientific standpoint, some have wondered about the virtues of adding depth to certain forms of entertainment. Sporting events featuring fans showing their bloated support in body paint, and pornography that zooms in on some body parts that decrease in sex appeal the more they fly out of the television are both off-putting prospects. Additionally, communal viewing events such as sporting events would either require the host to provide enough headsets for their guests, or make it incumbent upon attendees to bring their own.
While some market researchers expect 3D television set sales to rank in the tens of millions within the next five years, this shift represents more of a sudden mutation than gradual evolution for the technology, and it remains to be seen whether the decade will close with as much optimism over the format as there was when it opened.
