3D TV

Speculation about the long-term viability of 3D technology in every home centers on its popularity with gamers. In a recent interview, the creator of Avatar, James Cameron, discusses the disappointing sales for the first 3D Avatar game and the future of 3D movies and gaming.

“Hollywood has to stop doing cheap 3D conversions,” Cameron says. “If they’re going to do conversions, they have to do them right — and at a high quality. The way I like to put it is that we’re still in the wild, wild West. We don’t have the standards. People are launching off in all different directions, and it’s going to take a while for it to all settle down. But it’s the best practices that matter most for this industry. If you think about it, the 3D industry is very early, so we’re the equivalent of 1905 in the film world.”

Cameron remains committed to video games, even though he doesn’t play them himself, because he realizes the important role they play within the bigger picture of bringing 3D into the living room. He says whether it’s autostereoscopic (glasses free) video-game experiences like Nintendo 3DS​, or 3D PlayStation 3 titles, games will be a key driver in getting consumers to upgrade from their current HDTVs. Even Nintendo’s Wii U will support 3D games, although the company is expected to replicate Microsoft’s Xbox 360 approach of letting gamemakers take advantage of that feature. Perhaps James Cameron’s Avatar 2: The Video Game will explore that option. Cameron firmly believes that gamers will be the leaders in making the jump to the third dimension at home.

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(PhysOrg.com) — In a feat of technical wizardry combined with several doses of panache, Hitachi has demoed a 3D projector that can project images onto real-world objects in stunning fashion. For the demo, a 3D image of a bird hatching was displayed on an artificial egg that was cradled in an artificial nest. But that’s not all. Viewers looking at the demo see the bird as a hologram, in that as the viewing angle changes, so too does the view of the image, just as it would were you to be watching a real bird. The demo brings to mind Princess Leia, in Star Wars, delivering her message via 3D hologram to Obi Wan Kenobi.

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3D content providers do not need to worry about consumers being unable to view their 3D content. With a large increase in the number of TV sets with a 3D feature coming to market in 2011, TV set manufacturers will make it difficult not to buy a 3D-enabled set in the coming years.

3D imaging, which adds depth to a 2D image, is receiving a lot of buzz and hype with an increasing number of 3D films being produced in a resurgence of interest from Hollywood studios. 3D has been popular in Hollywood at other times in the previous century, but the difference is that now, 3D viewing is possible in the home. As a result, the 3D TV set market is poised to grow dramatically in 2011 by almost 500%, according to In-Stat.

Over the next few years, a greater percentage of large-screen TV sets will ship with the 3D feature, says Michelle Abraham, Research Director. We expect 100% of all 40-inch and above DTV sets will eventually be 3D-enabled. This will not only cause shipments of 3D TV sets to increase, but will also grow the number of households worldwide with 3D TV sets. 3D content providers need not worry that consumers will be unable to view their content.

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Are 3D glasses on the way out?

“Nissho Electronics in Japan is beginning sales of a 52-inch LCD panel that can pump out full 1080p of 3D vision without requiring any headgear from the viewer. Initially, this big lenticular display will target businesses, who’ll be among the few to be able to afford the ¥1.7 million ($20,820) asking price. Other specs include a 2,000:1 contrast ratio, 8ms response time, 700 nits of brightness, and a 60Hz refresh rate. The 3D on this TV is actually described as a unique “2D + depth” implementation, which can also be used to convert 2D images in real time.”

From Engadget

TechOn! is reporting Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd exhibited a 55-inch 3D LCD TV viewable without special glasses at FPD China 2011, which took place from March 15 to 17, 2011, in Shanghai, China. The new 3D LCD TV reportedly had a functional switch between 2D and 3D modes. The TV is equipped with an LCD panel whose optical refraction index can be changed in front of an LCD panel used for displaying images. Samsung believes this prototype will be commercially available in about three years.

Autostereoscopic technology allows the viewer to view 3D images without the need of special eyewear. Toshiba and other companies are developing similar technology, banking on commercial and consumer calls for glasses-free viewing of 3D images.

Make sure when checking out any TV, from LCD TVs to 3D TVs that you check the best available resources.

Toshiba recently unveiled two new 3D TVs which project a 3D image without the use of special glasses. The two new 3D TVs are the Regza GL1 series, Regza 20GL1 and Regza 12GL1 were unveiled at the Combined Exhibition of Advanced Technologies (Ceatec) 2010 in Tokyo.

Regza 20GL1, a 20-inch flat-panel display with 1,280×720 resolution and Regza 12GL1, a 12-inch flat-panel display with 466×350 resolution, uses autostereoscopic 3D technology which include a filter on top of the TV that projects the 3D image to the viewer.

Both models will be available exclusively in Japan by the end of the year. A laptop and 56-inch display are also in the works.

As the 3D Display market, including TVs, Blu-ray players, hand-held games and cell phones, seeks market traction in the coming years, will 3D be a standard feature on all future TVs? In 2013, according to ABI Research, market growth will start to accelerate, and shipments of 3D TV sets will approach 50 million in 2015.  Read more.

How is 3D TV doing in the market and what has been the consumer reaction?  The biggest complaint so far has been those pesky glasses.

The Consumer Electronics Association, a trade group which represents CE companies, including 3D TV makers, said only 1.1 million HDTVs would be 3D sets by year’s end. (The details of the report were published by Home Media Magazine.)  The biggest obstacles cited were set prices and the 3D glasses required to view the effects.

The Nielsen report, titled “Focusing on the 3DTV Experience,” is the “first professional study of a group that represents the whole country and has experienced 3D TV firsthand.” Stereoscopic glasses were the biggest deal breaker in regards to purchasing a set, with almost 50 percent of the 425 people surveyed complaining that they are uncomfortable or a “hassle.”  From Afterdawn.com

Toshiba is working on eyewear-free 3D TV models set to debut later this year. Toshiba’s 3D TV would allow viewers to sit in multiple places but still see the images in 3D.  At CEDEC 2010, Toshiba presented a naked-eye 3D display using integral imaging, which enables 3D images to be seen from 9 distinct viewing angles without requiring 3D glasses.

The conventional frame sequential method, which requires 3D glasses, utilizes the parallax between two images for the left and right eyes. By contrast, integral imaging can reproduce 3D images even without special glasses, by producing lots of rays of light projected at different angles. Due to the multiple parallax, the picture seen changes as the user’s viewpoint moves. A feature of this system is that it causes very little eye fatigue, even if used for a long time.  From DigInfo TV

ESPN debuted its first 3D television channel this week with World Cup soccer coverage.  ESPN 3D plans to broadcast nearly 100 live sporting events during its first year, including 25 World Cup soccer matches using Sony 3D equipment.  Other ESPN 3D events schedules are the 2010 Home Run Derby, X Games 16, Winter X Games 15, college basketball and football games and the 2011 BCS National Championship Game.

Avatar released on DVD and Blu-ray on April 22, has sold 19.7 million DVD and Blu-ray discs in three weeks, more than any other film has ever sold in that span.  The movie from director James Cameron already holds the record for the biggest film release at global box offices with more than $2.7 billion in ticket sales.  Fox plans to release a 3-D version of Avatar on DVD sometime next year.

3D TV is making its way to terrestrial television broadcasts.  The Korea Times has reported that the four major television networks in South Korea, KBS, MBC, SBS and EBS, have plans for trial services. The area where the 3D terrestrial broadcasts will be available will include Seoul and the neighboring metropolitan area.

SBS is involved in the global test of 3D coverage of the FIFA World Cup in June.  That coverage will include 25 matches in live 3D beginning June 11th and continuing through July 12.  The Korea Communication Commission (KCC), which is similar to the FCC in the U.S., will allow for up to three hours of 3D programming a day beginning May 19th through June 10th. After that, the hours for 3D programming will expand to include the time required for broadcast of the FIFA World Cup 3D matches.

Both Samsung and Panasonic have recently debuted 3D TV bundles with Blu-ray players and active-shutter glasses.

Panasonic’s package features the TC-P50VT20, a 50-inch 1080p 3DTV for $2,900 which comes bundled with Panasonic’s DMP-BDT300 3D Blu-ray player, which is capable of playing Blu-ray discs and DVDs and also has access to Netflix, Pandora and Twitter.  This bundle is only sold through Best Buy.  Included in the bundle is one free set of ($200) battery-operated 3D glasses.

Panasonic has added a 55-inch model for $400 more.  Reports are Panasonic sold out in its first week of sales.  Samsung released a bundled 3D TV package over a week ago, has not yet released its 3D shipment or sales figures.