3D:Future of HDTV or next Titanic

The big story this weekend was the new Avatar trailer. Here’s the link from the official website:

It is definitely generating a lot of buzz, the question is will it change they way we watch TV?

I’m sorry James Cameron, but 3D is not the future of television – TV Squad: “Aren’t we still in the middle of this transition to digital broadcasts, HDTV and Blu-Ray? Now you’re telling us we should buy new HDTVs and new Blu-Ray players that support 3D technology? Oh, and we’ll need those cool 3D glasses, too.”

Many good points were raised in the article, but the fact remains, when it is authored properly, it is really something to see!  The real problem with 3D movies making the move to the home theater is that there are two types of 3D technology:

• anaglyph
• Stereoscopic

The former uses those ugly two color glasses that give many people a headache. The latter is relatively new in the mainstream.  For some reason, while Panasonic, understandably got press, as well as competitors Sony and Samsung, Mitsubishi did not.

 nVidia makes a cool pair of these glasses requiring their video processor. Mitsubishi demonstrated the 3D capability of their Home Theater line with a system powered by nVIDIA at CES.

To see it in all its glory you’d need:

• 3D Ready Display, such as a DLP HDTV from Mitsubishi or PC Monitor from Samsung
• 3D synchronization source Aspen Media Products
• 3D stereoscopic glasses
• source material authored for 3D stereoscopic

Most people that have a display, probably don’t realize the capability.  The fourth is probably the hardest to come by.  With the latest nVIDIA drivers, any game authored in Microsoft DirectX10 can be automatically rendered in 3D.

Otherwise, you are fairly limited to actual full featured content. As always there are a few demonstration pieces and movie trailers, but not much.

The real opportunity for confusion is new theatrical releases, screened in Digital 3D, that make it to the home on regular DVD or BD with the anaglyph glasses.  It hardly makes for the same experience.

If you believe the internet the NFL has already made the investment in 3D, and once they iron out a few wrinkles discovered in the trial runs at the theaters, they are committed to free over the air (OTA).  These will probably be the big draws to home theaters: events like the Super Bowl and on-demand music concerts.  Perhaps even the occasional blockbuster.  Stay tuned.

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Tags: anaglyph, Avatar, Digital, glasses, HDTV, HDTVs, Microsoft, Mitsubishi, nVidia, players, Samsung, Stereoscopic, Technology, television, theater, transition