As Stephen mentioned yesterday, 3D HD TV is a big theme here at CES this year: Multiple manufacturers, including Sony, LG, Samsung, and Panasonic are all showing products. Panasonic is using LCD shutter glasses to make it happen–the glasses receive IR signals from the TV and alternately blacken each of the lenses to give each eye a slightly different perspective, and that binocular difference creates the 3D effect.
But perhaps most importantly, the glasses remind me of the classic 80s sci-fi B movie They Live, with super awesome wrestler-turned-actor Rowdy Roddy Piper (and one notoriously, ridiculously long fight scene) . Before The Rock, there was Roddy, God love ‘im.
By the way, there are apparently plans to remake They Live. This could end in disaster.
January 9th, 2009 at 1:10 pm
I wonder if these will work for me? I cannot see traditional 3-d images (red and blue glasses, magic eye prints). Interesting technology, but it sounds expensive.
January 9th, 2009 at 4:15 pm
@ Bill:
Do you know why you don’t see 3D images? Is one eye much stronger than the other?
And yes, this will be pretty expensive (at least at first)–if in fact it happens. The thing is that for the demonstration that Panasonic showed here at CES–a 10-minute video montage of various 3D content, from Bolt to NBA basketball to anime–the company encoded special extra information on a Blu-ray disc. They’re showing 1080p hi-def to *each eye*, which is not part of the Blu-ray standard, so they’re trying to get the Blu-ray alliance to change the standard to include this. No idea if that will really fly. Pana said they were targeting 2010 to release the tech, but I wonder if that’s an optimistic timeline.
Plus they did the demonstration on a 103-inch plasma screen, which is, y’know, pretty hi-end. James Dolan, head honcho at Cablevision, was sitting behind me in the demo, which makes it even more hi-end.
January 9th, 2009 at 6:54 pm
Bill, I have the same problem with normal 3D images because I have a lazy eye. But I went to see Bolt in 3D with glasses like those in the video and I saw it fine. Blocking my “active” eye forces me to look out of my other eye, so I saw the 3D images.
I can’t wait to get this in my house.
January 11th, 2009 at 4:42 pm
These guys claim to be able to deliver 3D movies on an XBOX 360 NOW…
http://marketsaw.blogspot.com/2009/01/ces-2009-next3d-offers-free-in-home-3d.html
http://www.next3d.com
March 7th, 2009 at 6:41 pm
Hello. Great job. This is a great post. Thanks!
October 26th, 2009 at 9:48 am
Before you go buy an HDTV, do yourself a favor, look at this TV, and do some research. Read other reviews. It turned me around to plasma and to this 2009 model plasma from Panasonic in particular. I knew plasmas simply have a superior picture, but I thought the price and issues with plasmas were a detriment.
October 26th, 2009 at 10:02 am
Before you go buy an HDTV, do yourself a favor, look at this TV, and do some research. Read other reviews. It turned me around to plasma and to this 2009 model plasma from Panasonic in particular. I knew plasmas simply have a superior picture, but I thought the price and issues with plasmas were a detriment.