Telef�nica and Philips testing no-glasses-necessary 3D IPTV, got ?18,000 we can borrow?

São Paulo, Brazil stand up, you're first in line for auto-stereoscopic (read: no glasses) 3D IPTV broadcasts courtesy of Telefónica/TVA and, we assume, that swank WOWvx-powered 1080p 52-inch Philips 3D HDTV promised to hit shelves by year end. Fortunately it now has a price, unfortunately, that price is €18,000 and requires you live in the Jardins neighborhood, hooked up to its fiber network in order to have the capacity to suck down all that 3D. Consumer accessibility is pegged at "inside three or four years", so you start saving, the SMPTE will figure out how to make it all work, and we'll sit back and remember how awesome Captain EO was that one time at Epcot Center. Everyone has to do their part.

[brandon @ Aug 14th 2008 12:19AM]

No........

Just no...........

[Mr Epic Hero @ Aug 14th 2008 12:29AM]

Hrmm, makes one wonder what channels this thing supports. If I can't watch The Young and the Restless in full HD 3D, then this fails.

[Charlie @ Aug 14th 2008 12:43AM]

If this period never happened, imagine when we DREAMT of 64-bit computing. Like that wasn't round the corner.. *cough* 2 years *cough*.

[crazacool @ Aug 14th 2008 12:50AM]

I really enjoyed living in the United States, too. Oh, well. Looks like it's time to pack my bags and learn Portugese.

...crap.

[heffeque @ Aug 14th 2008 8:29AM]

It was first presented in Spain (Europe), and it already has some media turned into 3D. Also the VoD platform is adapted to the 3D TV:
http://bandaancha.eu/articulo/5909/telefonica-prueba-version-imagenio-3d

The only problem is that you have to be at least 5 meters (16.4 feet) to be able to see the 3D :-S

[BobfromVegas @ Aug 14th 2008 12:59AM]

First!

[BobfromVegas @ Aug 14th 2008 1:00AM]

Looks like I was first in FAIL. HARHAR HAR.

[kyle allen @ Aug 14th 2008 1:11AM]

i didnt know that timing made text funny too. i learned something today =)

[SoulinEther @ Aug 14th 2008 1:03AM]

Hip, hip, hurra-effing-ay.... Unless this television actually projects light/things/holograms(?) out, or something, I don't know how useful it would be to someone like me with strabismus. If this becomes mainstream and raises the price of televisions everywhere, I'll be pissed... and working even harder to find a cure for amblyopia, just to keep up with modern technology and not because I actually want to join the stereoscopic masses :/

[bolezhinkov @ Aug 14th 2008 1:08AM]

18 000? yeah thats nothing to see helicopters coming out the screen at you. I'll hook it up with my laser disc player.

[kyle allen @ Aug 14th 2008 1:10AM]

oh dang!! does it run doom!!?!! ... sorry

[Tim @ Aug 14th 2008 2:39AM]

It doesn't, but your avatar does.

[Balagan @ Aug 14th 2008 1:39AM]

Two words for this: Double-D and POV.

Cuming to an adult theatre near you!

[MaGiXX @ Aug 14th 2008 2:38AM]

Screw 3D porn, for $18,000 you could get a lot of decent hookers.

[Tim @ Aug 14th 2008 2:42AM]

well if Spitzer's ho was any indication of market rates, you could get one horse-faced chick for 2 nights with a few g's to spare. And as an added bonus, none of the discretion you might have wanted if, say, you were a married state governor.

[Einhanderkiller @ Aug 14th 2008 1:46AM]

HOLY SHIT THAT HELICOPTER IS FLYING OUT OF THAT TV HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE OMG

[VampireHunter Z @ Aug 14th 2008 2:26AM]

Does this thing still work if you sit at an angle?

[霽月瀛台 @ Aug 14th 2008 3:03AM]

can the general public in Brazil afford that?
I am pretty sure general public in Hong Kong can't.

[JeffRyan @ Aug 14th 2008 6:04AM]

Jardins is a neighbourhood of rich people in the richest state of Brazil. They can afford that.

[Balagan @ Aug 14th 2008 3:37AM]

18,000 for hookers. More like $300 for the hooker and you can't put the rest towards your healthcare needs after you get AIDS!

[Andrew @ Aug 14th 2008 12:03PM]

Remember it's 18.000 Euros, so even more money! ;)

[Patriks7 @ Aug 14th 2008 3:45AM]

more like epic fail

[Borja Huertas @ Aug 14th 2008 5:40AM]

I got the chance to see one of this in person on the Telefonica Flagship store on Granvia (Madrid, 3 floors of iPhone and mobile goodness).

Anyway I can say is really impressive. I was chatting with the guy controlling the demo and he told me that at the moment the TV has 11 "viewing angles". That means that you have to be more or less exactly on one of the 11 possible spots to get the 3D feel. Otherwise you see a blurred double image (similar to the one of a 3D cinema when you take out the glasses).

I was standing there on one of those spots and when I leaned on either side (for around 20-30 centimetres) I lost the 3D effects.

Either way the technology is amazing. But don't hope this to get cheap any time soon.

[G. C. @ Aug 14th 2008 3:04PM]

Would u believe this cute little thing was just the room next door to me in Telefonica here in Brazil? We even had the chance to watch a live demo here at the office, with Pinochio's nose "coming out of the screen". No kidding guys! It really works and it's amazing! People around here even tried to set a kind of "popcorn session" in front of that, but the demonstrators were kind of too jealous of the gadget.

And at least you know we speak Portuguese over here... very nice.