Is the 3D fad here to stay? Yes, I think so, but just as a fun, once in a while kind of thing.
After reanalyzing the 3D trends, I can assure you that 3D is here to stay. However, it’s not here to stay as an everyday thing, but as a fun gimmick that everyone will use once in a while.
I’ve personally seen a couple of iterations of the 3D fad in my own lifetime, including the early theatrical stuff, which I loved as a kid, and the more recent shutter-glasses variations. Every time 3D has cropped up, there has been a faddish quality about it, but the public always flocks to it, showing that it could have some legs. The amount of money generated by Avatar and Alice in Wonderland counts for more than the opinion of pundits, and until these movies stop making boatloads of dough, they will continue to be produced.
The reason I have changed my mind about 3D is the new digital technology. Unlike in the past, the 3D movie experience can now be done with one multipurpose digital projector that can exhibit a 3D stream over an elaborate network making the cost of exhibition only dependent on distribution of 3D eyewear which is usually accounted for in the ticket price. In other words, the economics of 3D are a lot different than in the past when you needed two synchronized projectors and two complete films to show the movie plus the eyewear. Also the whole 3D experience has improved.
The same thing applies to home 3D. The cost of entry within the next few years will only be the cost of the eyewear. This should have dawned on me earlier when the first over-priced, home 3D flat panels began to arrive. My initial logic was: Why should I spend an extra $1,000 for something I’d rarely use? I mean, how much 3D programming is there on TV anyway? NONE.
But it became apparent within a few months that I was missing the point. The circuitry for 3D TV is just circuitry. Any good panel can do the 3D trick with the right circuit. A few extra chips will, eventually, be included in the main board of all TV’s, because it gives the maker a marketing edge to say that the TV is 3D-ready, or 3D-compatible, or 3D-capable or just 3D. The point is: all flat panel displays will be 3D compatible within the next few years, because it’s a feature you can add for free. There will be no cost differential at all.
Thus, if everyone will own a 3D TV (whether they like it or not), I can say that the technology is here to stay, and everyone, once in a while, will don the 3D glasses and watch home movies or photos made with one of the 3D camera rigs out there. It won’t be something you’ll be doing all the time, but something you do every so often. “Hey, Mom, where are the 3D glasses? Someone moved them!” will be often heard around America.
And did I mention porn?
Eventually, the future commonplace of 3D will lead to genuine glasses-free 3D, which works great in small formats already. The LCD on the nifty Fujifilm Finepix Real 3D W3 (two lens, two sensor) camera employs this technology, and it’s awesome. And it can be turned off, too. Very impressive.
In the end, 3D will be an included feature on all future LCD flat-panels, because it’s just a couple more chips that get thrown in for free. So, if we all can use it on TVs for free, how can it not succeed?
By: John C. Dvorak
source: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2372000,00.asp
PlayStation 3 owners will soon get to watch Michael Jordan dunking from the foul line in 3D as soon as later this month.