Have your say & ask the experts

Hello,

Having decided to do a demo of projectors around £1000 and 42" TVs as a combined replacement for my current 36" CRT, I then suddenly thought "what about 3D"?

I've not read that much about it, and I'm not totally convinced I want it, but now I'm hearing reports of existing 2D films being turned into 3D, and people having a reasonable experience at the pictures, I don't want to buy 2D displays now only to find next year all the displays are 3D.

So I'm wondering would all the 3D technologies being touted need specialist displays? And also do people think that this will be worthwhile and in the mainstream in the near future?

Any opinions much appreciated.

Thanks, Ian. 

The answers to your two questions are yes you'll need a new display, and who knows how worthwhile it will be.

We'll have a special feature on 3D TV in the December issue, on sale next week.

3D will work quite well for animated stuff, but do you really want to see 'classic' films in 3D? I know I don't.

3D has failed 3 times before......

Andrew Everard:

It certainly 'works' with stuff newly made in 3D, but I shudder at the thought of old movies being 3D'd – it's just as horrendous a thought as that attempt a few years back to 'colorise' black and white movies.

YEAH! Leave our Laurel and Hardy alone!

You're right about retro-wossnaming old movies into 3D, I mean, who wants to see something like The Creature from the Black Lagoon in 3D?

Oh you're too clever for me Mr E. You're also right, I saw it in the original 3D at the Barbican about 12 years ago I think. Interesting, although it wasn't the biggest screen in the world.

Ah, happy days, Incy Wincy Quincy, Spider Mortician, private joke, but I was crying with laughter...

I watched my bloody valantine in 3d on blu-ray last night,And after an hour i went back to watching the 2d version.I felt strange my eyes were feeling blured lol,Like i had a good session with mr jd lol,It will be intresting to see what happens to 3d.But im not sure how it will pan out.I will go to the pictures on the next 3d film showing to see how it looks on a massive screen.Buy the way my bloody valentine.Oh dear not great but the 7.1 dts-hd sound was a revelation.And yes the laruel and hardy box sets are far better it is what makes them classics.And tinkering with making them in colour was bad.It takes away the reason to watch them.(sorry if there are any spelling mistakes).

The My Bloody Valentine disc uses the old 'coloured lenses' system, which is not comparable to the latest cinema systems, nor the forthcoming 3D televisions.    But wearing 3D glasses, whether cardboard with coloured cellophane, or high-tech LCD shutters ones, does get pretty fatiguing.

I would have thought it difficult/impossible to make 3D versions of non-3D films, as the process involves taking two slightly different angles of the same scene - if you look at a 3D image without glasses, you'll see two slightly overlapping pictures.    Surely if they try to do this with non-3D films it will be a distortion?

(If you cross your eyes and focus on the above icons closely enough, you may see them in 3D!!!)

(You may also need to see an optician)

Thanks for all the opinion.

Yeah, I'm far from convinced I want to see films in 3D or how much better it can make the experience, and then there's the glasses. But having said that I haven't experienced it, (maybe I should go to one of the new 3D films at the pictures). A lot of people said that BlueRay and HD DVD were unneeded upgrades to DVD, but eventually they've taken off.

Having waited all this time to go hi-def though, I'm worried about suddenly finding that I'm one step behind again, and missing out on the best experiences. Having said that if I want to wait for 3D kit it would proably mean waiting a really long time to upgrade my CRT until the 3D technology is commonplace - I'm not spending a fortune on rubbish early kit.

I think the new displays will do 2D as well, and I wouldn't imagine we'll get to a situation where all TV or films are 3D, and we're wearing glasses all the time. I think it'll be just special programmes and films probably.

I have read that Panasonic willl be doing displays and players next year. Also that a company has created a computational process to give films a convincing 3D effect, and are looking to make 3D a number of 2D films such as Star Wars and a few other similar action blockbusters.

Andrew Everard:

I shudder at the thought of old movies being 3D'd – it's just as horrendous a thought as that attempt a few years back to 'colorise' black and white movies.

I couldn't agree more! Just the thought of it makes me angry.