A few minutes before I came face to face with the three dimensions (3D) television, I told a colleague in my trade that we were about to see a TV that can only be meaningful if you wear ‘shades.’ I had seen it on TV so I was a bit of an “expert” on the subject.
But her response to my revelation was; “You are kidding me! That can’t be true.” It was not so long before she experienced 3D entertainment. At the end of it, she posted these remarks on her Facebook status update: “Am not into gadgets but this Sony 3D is just the bomb! You have to wear glasses and you will see the images coming to you! As in you stretch your hand and feel your inside the TV and part of the movie! This technology has beaten my understanding!”
But her statement proves one point: You will need a pair of glasses to complete the broadcast circuit. 3D television is a runner up to High Definition (HD) TV but with clearer and sharper images and dolby sound. But what gives the immersive phenomenon a distinction from HD is its ability to make the images one is viewing seem like they are flowing out of the screen and moving closer to the viewer.
There is also a noticeable depth within the background that gives the viewing a better than natural feel. If you are watching a football game, you feel like you are on the football field with the players.
“Sony’s 3D world is about subtlety and detail to totally engage the viewer,” Osamu Miura, the managing director Sony Gulf Miura told Business Power at the unveiling ceremony of the technology in East Africa.
But the engagement cannot be experienced without the unique pair of colour glasses that comes with each TV set. Buy an extra one and you will part with $100 (Shs227,000). That’s about the price of an ordinary 14” colour television. The actual television sets come in 14”, 46” and 52” and will cost between Shs640,000 and Shs900,000 in Uganda. An ordinary 14” TV set costs about Shs250,000 depending on the brand.
Going by this example, the 3D TVs are about three times more expensive than the normal 2D sets. The 3D sets and other products including; Home Theater systems, and Blu ray disc players will go on sale for the first time in Uganda next month, according to Rajeev Pallippamadm, the chief representative Sony East Africa Operations.
Globally, sales of 3D sets are expected to grow from 4 million in 2010 to 78 million by 2015, or about two-fifths of the projected global flat-screen market, the Financial Times reported quoting statistics from iSupply, a research firm. Toshiba, another electronics company is set to introduce 3D Television sets that don’t require viewers to wear 3D glasses. This is based on research indicating that consumers are not interested in spending hours watching television with glasses on their faces.
By Walter Wafula
source: http://www.monitor.co.ug/Business/Business%20Power/-/688616/1053962/-/150ikj2z/-/