ESPN to launch 3D network

http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/01/05/espn.3d/index.html

ESPN to launch 3-D network

-ESPN 3D set to launch in June with South Africa-Mexico soccer match -Network will require special 3-D television, glasses to watch -September's USC-Ohio State game was shot, shown in 3-D by network World Cup soccer, the 2011 BCS National Championship game and dozens of other sporting events will be shown in 3-D by ESPN in the coming year. The cable network announced Tuesday that it will launch a new channel, ESPN 3D, on June 11 with its three-dimensional broadcast of a FIFA World Cup soccer match between South Africa and Mexico.

This is great, the wave of the future is coming onto us. DirectTV also plans to announce 3D network(s) this week, so we'll just have to stay tuned and get ready for the next-generation entertainment to come into our homes. I'm excited!

"Special 3-D television"?

I wondered about that myself. I think they probably meant HD.

I don't think regular HDTVs can display 3d properly... although I heard from someone that they can.

So I just googled and apparently if the TV can do interlacing (1080i in practicality) it can do 3d. Who knows.

Well, hmm looks like there is some investigating to do.

http://blogs.consumerreports.org/ele...-inch-xvt.html

3D is obviously going to be the wave of future TV, let's not forget 1600p TVs that are set to be out soon as well. Who knows what type of compatibility will be needed but just the fact they are pushing for it and the time has come is great IMO.

Here is the 3D Television market forcast up to 2018.


http://www.displaysearch.com/cps/rde...on_by_2018.asp

3D-ready monitors will grow from 40K units (0.02% penetration) in 2009 to 10 million (3.6% penetration) in 2018. 3D notebook PCs are forecast to grow from 66K units (0.04% penetration) in 2009 to 17.7 million (3.2% penetration) in 2018. Mobile phones will be the largest 3D display application on a unit shipment basis in 2018, with 71 million units with 3D capability. The largest screen size category for 3D display shipments will be 1-4.x”, due to demand from mobile phone and digital camera/camcorder applications. The second largest size range will be 40-49”, due to TV, public display and 40+ monitor applications. LCD will be the primary display technology used for 3D displays, as a result of its wide range of display applications ranging from small mobile phones to large public displays and TVs. Eyewear will be necessary for most 3D applications for many years to come, due to the limitations of auto-stereoscopic (no glasses) technologies. DisplaySearch forecasts there will be more than 7,000 new 3D cinema screens installed in 2010 and an additional 9,000 in 2011.

Thanatos is intrigued.

DirectTV and Panasonic announced a few days ago with their partnership in the 3D market. Should be interesting news in the next few days/weeks.

Definitely keep us updated. This is pretty intriguing, mostly because 3D TVs coming out would make the price of current high quality HDTVs plummet.

mostly because 3D TVs coming out would make the price of current high quality HDTVs plummet.

Oh, absolutely, and analog old-school televisions will become antiques.


http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2357685,00.asp

In a surprising endorsement for 3D display technology, Sony Corp. of America, Discovery Communications and IMAX Corp. have announced plans to form a U.S. television network entirely devoted to 3D programming. The three parties have signed a letter of intent to form the unnamed venture, which is scheduled to launch in 2012.

It's coming, there doesn't seem to be any new details from CES 2010 but i'm sure in the coming weeks there will be more information of the costs and availability of 3d televisions. Focused Technology has a Phillips 42" 3D Television set at $8,999 which might seem absurd, but by the time the rest of the industry catches up, most TV's will be comparable to that of HDTVs, atleast the price fallout of the last few years.

Is there any use for a 3D television set right now? Are 3D television sets HD as well?

I actually rented this from a RedBox near my house which actually had the '3D' version, and I tried it out on my 32" 1080p TV with 3d glasses and the picture wasn't rendered correctly, but as far as I could tell the PS3 had no issues playing it, just the TV could not correctly display it.

http://www.dvdboxoffice.com/mvi/blur...=1&src=froogle


I'm assuming by the time Avatar comes out there will be more 3D titles available, hence 3d players may emerge, but without the TV will it work?


http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10417449-1.html

The Blu-ray Disc Association released its finalized 3D specifications this morning, outlining what to expect out of 3D Blu-ray in 2010. The specification includes full 1080p resolution, backward compatibility for both 3D Blu-ray players and the 3D Blu-ray Discs (meaning that both will play or be able to be played in 2D), and the use of a new MVC codec, an extension of the existing AVC. 3D playback will be "display agnostic," meaning that, according to the Blu-ray Disc Association, the format will be compatible across "any compatible 3D display." What exactly a "compatible 3D display" consists of is still a mystery, but a Blu-ray Disc Association representative said via a phone call that for the most part, you'll need a new TV set to make this technology work.

Also, http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10402438-1.html (refers to PS3 going into 3D gaming in 2011).

How can the PS3 go 3D if it isn't using a 3D Blu-ray player? I would have expected them to just come out with a new console and have the 3D factor be their selling point. Maybe they'll just come out with a new version of the PS3?

Well as far as I can tell there has been no official word of what Sony plans on doing. I would expect them as well to release another PS3, but one of the websites I was reading yesterday mentioned they may just release a new update for the PS3 which could make it compatible. This is still somewhat in an infancy stage but I would imagine either option would work.

As for content, you’ll need a 3-D-capable Blu-ray player or, some day, cable box. Manufacturers are quick to brag about whether their Blu-ray players can output 3-D properly, so just google the model of your player. (If you have a PlayStation 3 or a DirectTV box, you’re in luck: These devices will gain 3-D capability through firmware upgrades, according to their respective manufacturers.) Then you’ll have to buy special Blu-ray discs that are explicitly labeled to use the same 3-D tech as your TV and glasses. So far there’s only one 3-D Blu-ray disc available: Monsters and Aliens, which Dreamworks released with great fanfare last week. (There are other 3-D Blu-ray discs available, but they use the old blue-and-red glasses 3-D technology, which doesn’t look nearly as good.)

Read More http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/...#ixzz0ccf45iiP




Here's a few images and descriptions brough to you by the wonderful www.wired.com during CES.

Mitsubishi’s “3-D ready” TVs are already shipping. That’s not surprising, because they’re an underdog: Mitsubishi’s TVs are 120 Hz, so you’re probably not going to get as clear a 3-D experience as you would with the aforementioned televisions. The TV pictured above is Mitsubishi’s WD-82837, an 82-inch display that is already available, and costs just $4,200. Mitsubishi says this model features technologies to improve noise reduction, sharpness and shadow details. Read More http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/...#ixzz0cceLR5Lw

Panasonic promises its TC-PVT25 won’t compromise high-definition quality, even for 3-D material. According to Panasonic, the 65-inch 240-Hz plasma will preserve all 1,920 x 1,080 (1080p) pixels in each eye — so long as you hook up the correct type of Blu-ray player, pop in a 3-D capable disc, and so on. Panasonic says the TV will include one pair of 3-D glasses when it ships in spring. No word on pricing yet. Read More http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/...#ixzz0cceTVFMF

Toshiba’s biggest product at CES was the Cell TV, a web-connected 3-D TV with the guts of a supercomputer. The 65-inch TV boasts a 480-Hz refresh rate, which becomes 240 Hz for each eye in 3-D mode — a standout feature that Toshiba promises will deliver “unbelievable fast-motion clarity” in 3-D. The TV features a transmitter that synchronizes with active-shutter 3-D glasses, too. Above all that, Toshiba says the Cell TV includes software to convert standard television to be watchable in 3-D form. Huge promises, right? We’ll see if Toshiba can deliver. No pricing or launch date announced yet for this behemoth. Read More http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/...#ixzz0cceoZCMn

How can the PS3 go 3D if it isn't using a 3D Blu-ray player? I would have expected them to just come out with a new console and have the 3D factor be their selling point. Maybe they'll just come out with a new version of the PS3?

Forgot to update this thread when I read about this a while back.

I actually was in West Palm a month or two ago and they have a big Sony store in their local mall with a bunch of 3D movies and games set up everywhere. It was definitely something to try out, but i'm still not sold on wearing the hideous glasses.



http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-20010230-1.html

Updated September 2, 2010: At the IFA show in Berlin Sony announced that this upgrade would arrive in October, not September as the company had previously indicated. (via Engadget) People who bought the Sony PlayStation 3 for its built-in Blu-ray player may have another reason to feel good about themselves. Sony has confirmed that in October the multitalented game console will receive a firmware update that allows it to play 3D Blu-ray discs. "We're launching another Firmware upgrade--and this one is going to upgrade the PS3 to support Blu-ray movies in 3D," said Mick Hocking, senior director of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, at a press event in London late last week. He also mentioned future upgrades to support 3D photos and 3D YouTube videos. The console's update for 3D gaming came worldwide in June. When the 3D Blu-ray upgrade hits homes this fall, the crucial installed base of 3D-compatible Blu-ray hardware will increase significantly; there are "35.8 million PlayStation 3s out there," according to Hocking. The upgrade, which we assume will be free as usual, makes the cost of upgrading to 3D a bit less expensive than before. Of course, you'll still need a new TV and expensive glasses for everyone, but at least PS3 owners won't have to buy a new Blu-ray player. Standalone, non-PS3 3D Blu-ray players like the Samsung BD-C6900 and Panasonic DMP-BDT350 are currently quite expensive, at about $400 each. The least expensive such player is actually Sony's BDP-S470 ($199), which along with the BDP-S570 and a couple of HTiBs, was made 3D compatible via a separate firmware upgrade in June. No other maker offers a similar upgrade for 3D. On a technical note we wondered at CES in January, when we first heard about the 3D PS3 Blu-ray update, whether the console would be able to handle the "full HD" 3D called for in the Blu-ray standard, which we were told needs HDMI 1.4-compatible hardware. Sony told us that despite the older hardware in the console, which was launched before even the HDMI 1.3 standard was available, the PS3 would have no problem delivering full HD 3D. Hocking backed up that claim with the following quote: "The [June] upgrade basically makes every PlayStation 3 HDMI 1.4 compatible--that's the standard that governs 3D displays." We're inclined to believe Sony on this one, and we're looking forward to testing the upgrade ourselves. Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-...#ixzz11QDoF5yV

So right in time for this Firmware release about to drop, this thread gets an update.

Supposedly Toshiba has a glasses-free 3D TV coming out, but you have to sit close to the TV for the 3D effect to work. I suspect they just put a lens in front of the screen.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Toshib...&asset=&ccode=

I had read somewhere about another company working on using water molecules somehow in a separate compartment to create the 3d effect, but never got to the part of how it was actually supposed to work. By the time they master the technology it'll be useless and holographic projections will be readily available.

I'm more excited for the eye implants to artificially add additional dimensions to our vision, myself.

lolwut

Gills would be nice as well.