This year’s CES is all about one thing – 3D television. Samsung, LG, Mitsubishi, Toshiba, Panasonic, and Sony all showcased 3D televisions in one form or another. The secondary big thing for televisions is once again convergence of Internet and phone capabilities. Here’s the problem with 3D – the glasses, yeah they are ok for a few minutes here and there and heck even for the occasional movie but would I really want to have to where these things every time I watch TV – heck no.
There are some hoops to jump through. Most of the systems on display required a special dongle to be connected to the Blu-ray or television set. Several sets coming this summer will have the 3D decoding built in and 3D Blu-ray players will also decode as well. Once everything is properly set up, the results are all over the map – based on what type of glasses you are using. When it works, like with Mitsubishi’s demo which used “Shutter” technology, the effect was stunning – no blur, comfortable, an amazing depth of field, and beautiful clarity all on a 75 inch display.
Real 3D polarized glasses were decent as well, but the old fashion paper glasses that some companies used in their demos were universally awful. The cost for these upcoming 3D sets were surprisingly reasonable, in many cases you are only paying a few hundred dollars extra, several sets will be around $2,000 – for 50+ inches.
3D Highlights:
3D Blu-ray releases are coming this winter from most of the studios. Disney made a big deal out of the idea that A Christmas Carol will be their first Blu-ray release this fall, but hey I do believe I own a copy of The Jonas Brother’s 3D Concert Experience already and Friday the 13th Pt II in 3D so clearly there have already been some experimentation here. I’m not really sure what the point of having a 3D Blu-ray Player and 3D television is.
3D Television – Sony is partnering with ESPN and the Discovery Channel to launch 3D Networks at the end of the year and early next. LG is promoting a 2D – 3D convertor box for Cable Systems to use to upgrade all channels to 3D. The 2D – 3D conversion actually works surprisingly well.
Movies – Last year was a huge year for 3D movies and this year promises to be another big one with a lot of studios deciding to upgrade their big releases with 3D. We already have Iron Man in 3D. With the success of Avatar, I won’t be surprised if every big release get converted, heck if JackAss can be in 3D I’m sure Harry Potter, Twilight, etc will be as well.
Internet
Every television that I’ve seen t this year’s show includes built in Wireless networking with some form of Internet Television Interface. I’ve seen this at the last 2 CES shows and have yet to see any of these TVs appear at my local Best Buy, but this may be the year it finally happens. Imagine being able to check out YouTube, Netflix Instant Watch, Hulu, Boxee, from your television. Well most of these Internet enabled televisions include all of these channels and more stuff like Flickr, Pandora Radio and other built in widgets. In the past I’ve been a convergence hater – I don’t want my picture junked up with “informational” widgets. Now that there’s a host of web video channels, the time is finally right for this.
Video Calls
Several companies, starting with LG, showed off the latest television gimmick – Skype calling through your television. Whatever.
Reporting by
Michelle Alexandria
Originally posted 8.08.10