To 3D or not To 3D...

Hold on to your hats folks, 3DTV is coming! The new 3D format is purportedly full color and high resolution, 1080p in the Blu-ray version. The new 3DTV's will of course require special glasses with liqiud crystal shutters which open and close @ 120 hertz ( times per second ). Relax, I'm sure  that frequency is well above the threshold for reflex epileptic seizures...
( hopefully ). The best part is you'll have an excuse to buy a new HDTV, because the new 3DTV is not backwards compatible to your (old) new HDTV, or your "old" Blu-ray player ...tee hee... Also everyone watching the set will have to wear a pair of the special 100 dollar a pop glasses or they're going to see a blurry, crummy, double image. I'm hoping the set manufacturers will include a pair for each member of the family, which according to the U.S. census bureau is currently @ 3.14 persons. Something tells me that last .14 of a person isn't going to get any glasses... poor kid...

There are indications that the system causes headaches and disorientation in some people.  Have any of you experienced the migraine-hangover syndrome from playing Duke Nukem on the old Nintendo 64 for a couple of hours? I'm guessing that's a pretty close comparison, or 10 minutes on the "Tilt a Whirl" ride at your local carnival  would be the equivalent. Did anyone go to the theater to see the 3D version of "Avatar" recently? Judging by the box office figures, you probably did. Do you know anyone who came away a little queasy? I think I'll go see Sherlock Holmes instead.... (link)Sherlock-Holmes

Another interesting fact is that 5 to 10 percent of the population apparently can't see in 3D, so if you're one of these folks, or a 3D headache person, well then lets just hope you aren't the sucker who paid for this novelty.  To be fair, the system will still play in normal 2D. ( gee, don't we already have one of those ? ) While I'm not going to label 3DTV as a gimmick, as certain programming and  gaming concepts would be incredible in a 3D format, I just can't see that much content being suited to it. Everybody Loves Raymond... but in 3D, come on already.

In my "humble"opinion, gaming is 3D's forte, a nice flight sim or first person shooter would be a very good fit. Until they can produce a system that doesn't require special glasses, I'll just stick with my old 2D tv system thank you.  A head tracking system based on Microsoft's project Natal technology and Johnny Lee's Wii concept just might deliver on a glassless system, this clever chap is working on it. Check out his Youtube videos for VR desktop displays and projector calibration, really neat stuff. (link) johnnylee.net/ 

 On a positive note, with the advent of any new ground breaking technology, it'll probably drive down the price of the old, obsolete HDTV crap. I'm going to see if I can pick something up on the closeout rack. Being the last kid on the block to have the "latest thing" has it's perks, but I'm a little concerned as to how I'm going to set my 90 lb. Sony Betamax vcr on top of a flat panel tv. I'll  just have to consult the people @ The Peabody Laboratories for a bracket or something....  This concludes our  broadcast, stay tuned for station identification....