3D TV, A Thing Of The Not-So-Distant Future

A 3D TV could be yours sooner than you think. According to the AP, a number of Japan’s biggest electronic manufacturers are showing off 3D prototypes, and I’m not talking cars-of-the-future prototypes. We could be seeing these TVs on the market as early as next year.

Both Sony Corp. and Panasonic Corp. plan to release their models next year, but other companies like Sharp Corp. will be holding off to get a better sense of the device’s potential. If other companies are willing to dive head first into the 3D market, it seems smart of Sharp to wait in the wings. The 3D movie-going experience has certainly caught on, but will people actually want to plop down on the couch and throw on 3D specs to watch TV?

It sound ridiculous, but putting on the glasses is a hassle. Secondly, what if someone in the room wants to watch a program in 3D and another person would rather not? The latter individual would be left with a fuzzy image. It’ll be the remote-control war of the 21st century. The key to making 3D TV widespread is glassless viewing. Back in January at the Consumer Electronics Show, Panasonic’s Keisuke Suetsugi told CNET, "Glassless 3D would be ideal. But it's just not possible to do that now and get the same quality experience. You would need at least 50 times more pixels to get a display to provide the same 3D experience that we provide with our TV. We are still 10 years away from that kind of technology."

Another issue cited in the CNET article is that there are standards for getting the 3D material from studios to homes, which could result in a hardware war similar to the one between HD DVD and Blu-ray. Lastly, it’s pretty damn expensive to produce 3D material. The article states, “Three-dimensional video requires multiple cameras for shooting. And it also requires multiple high-definition streams for transporting the video over carrier networks.” That doesn’t sound very practical.

In an ideal world, 3D TVs would hit stores and we’d frolic in advanced-technology glee. Sadly, just as with any new technology, buyers must beware. Going with the flow of immediate hype could leave you with a piece of useless equipment and out $1,000 to $3,000. The moral of the story is to enjoy the concept of advancement but be vigilant when it comes to getting a hand in on the action. You’ve got to admit, it’d be great to be one of the first to own a 3D TV, but phenomenally worse to be the sucker with a glasses indentation on their nose and no 3D content to show for it.