Legal Research

3DTV

By scott

ESPN and Discovery Channel are both launching 3-D networks in the US, BskyB is planning the same in the UK, does that mean 3DTV has arrived? I hope not.

Seriously, why would I want a channel of 3D TV? I can’t even be arsed to see films in 3D at the cinema ? which itself seem like more of a ploy to cut down on piracy than it does to enhance the cinematic experience. This is not to say that I am dismissing it out of hand or ignoring that in some spheres it may prove successful ? sport immediately springs to mind. I can see that watching a football game in a pub in 3D might be fun, but in my own home? Do I want to watch the news in 3D? Eastenders? Spooks? Question Time?

One sticking point (and not just for me) is the silly glasses ? which if you already have to wear glasses is glasses over glasses - although Philips have a prototype TV ? WOWvx ? that creates the effect without the need for glasses. As the cost for a ‘normal’ 3DTV with glasses is expected to start at around 2-3 times the cost of a current LCD/Plasma TV, you can imagine what something like this would retail at. Of course costs will come down, but only if people start to buy these things at full wack. Are they really going to?

History has also shown us that there are likely to be competing standards and when it comes to buying your HD3D DVDs - it’s going to be a mess. Yes, you’ll need yet another TV, yet another DVDlike player, etc etc.

Nick Bilton at the NY Times is also asking if we really need 3DTV and whilst he things it could be great for gaming (and I agree) but he concludes ‘ I can?t recall a single geeky friend saying anything, with any excitement, about 3-D televisions.’ He’s right. Even with the success of Avatar at the cinema the only people I hear talking about 3D is gamers.

Of course in 10 years time I may be eating my words and writing about how I can not imagine how we could have survived with just 2DTV. I could be, but I doubt it.

Full post as published by Information Overload on January 06, 2010 (boomark / email).