Samsung 3D Starter Kit gets 3DTV and Blu-ray buyers started
By Joanna Stern 
posted March 9th 2010 11:57AM
posted March 9th 2010 11:57AM
posted March 9th 2010 11:57AM
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Lets see how the Sony LX900 will be. I'll make my final decision between Samsung 3D or Sony Bravia LX900 but I've always liked Sony TV's.
@m3nphls Sony could actually make a good bundle with the TV, PS3 slim (with promised update), IR remote and a pair of glasses. If you already have a PS3 you could sell or trade it in.
@VampireHunterZ
PS3 slim you say.... hmm... is this "promised update" supposed to be a 3d blu ray?
@m3nphls
You won't be considering Panasonic's 3D plasma or Sony's HX local-dimming LED LCD?
I can't imagine and LED edge-lit LCD having a better picture than either.
considering how expensive all these new tvs are going to be anyway, they should already include the glasses.
@iName
They're really not expensive though! It's just another feature that justfies the price. The price has not increased any more, it may seem like it, but only because 2009 models have been pushed down to clear room for 2010 stock.
This happens every year, difference is, now it's a feature which actually makes more of a difference, stop complaining.
@FORDY Could not have said that better myself.
I can't wait for the 3D movie torrents to come out.
@Drago ooh yeah waiting for a 16gb movie to download is soooo enticing lol
Well, 16 GB would take about 15 minutes to DL. Takes longer to go to the store :)
@espentan Maybe he's on dial-up!
Whatever service can download 16GB in 15 minutes... sign me up!
Most Cable Providers in the US will be several hours to download 16GB.
And BTW, you're short on that number by half. The only way to get to 16GB from a Blu-ray even now is a re-encode. It's not at all clear if any re-encoders can handle the 3D Blu-ray format yet.
-Pie
Personally I hope this faux 3D craze dies sooner rather than later. Starting to do my head in.
@Hobsie It's not really faux 3D if it is really 3D though. I think that 3D is here to stay this time. Of course, no-one is forcing you to watch it.
@Maxwell ...until you get annoyed at having to put the glasses on, and a pair breaks and you don't feel like paying $75 for a new pair and you just go back to 2d.
@Maxwell you also can't make out chicks with giant 3D glasses on, which I think would be a big deterrent. At least for me. Since thats a major reason someone would come over to "watch a movie"
@Maxwell
I'm a little confused at this statement "It's not really faux 3D if it is really 3D". Its not real 3D that's being sold to us. It's just offset 2D images giving the impression of depth. You cannot walk around it and look at it from multiple angles, its not real 3D. The glasses also still bug me. It just feels like the TV and movie industry has given up looking for the next new thing and settled with this tech. If it worked without glasses i'd be a lot more swayed. If it was genuinely 3D i'd be all over it.
But its not so it is just Faux 3D
Just imo though, I know plenty of people seem to like it.
@Shalabi
Where are you getting these cheap $75 glasses? They are $150 each.
@Hobsie Maybe you should tear one of your eyes out? That would make it 2D. It's 3D. It has length, it has width, and your brain gives it depth. If you're waiting for nationally broadcast television you can touch, you better hope for some serious life-extending medical breakthroughs.
@Hobsie
I agree. I've tested several solutions using active shutter glasses, and they all more or less sucked. Sure there is some kind of 3D effect there, but mostly it just looks like layers of flat objects on top of each other. Granted I've only tested 3D glasses on PC and with computer games, but still. Another thing is that a lot of people, including myself, will feel discomfort using active glasses. The refresh rate is simply too low. I doubt that the TV's and glasses will be any better.
I remember seeing 3D without glasses at E3 back in 2003 or 2004. Albeit simple, if refined I reckon it would have been a much better solution. Then again, the TV manufacturers need to sell us this rather crappy technology before they can launch something better, sending the consumers out to buy their 4th or 5th flat screen TV (plasma, then LCD, then 720P HD, then 1080P FullHD, then LED LCD, now 3D)...
@Smurf
I actually sat through the latter half of Avatar 3D with one eye closed :P
I'm very confused at why people think its 'genuinely 3D' does it have a measurable depth? Didn't think so, not 3D! Just the faux perception of it. Like BoardkilL mentioned to me it also just feels like layers of flat objects.
Something I have noticed as well is the 'closer' an object is meant to feel the lower the frame rate is of the more out of sync it becomes (I've seen this on various implementations).
All in all, for me it just doesn't enhance the movie or game experience.
will these work with those of us that have a samsung dlp (hlt-5087s) that has a 3d port?
So is the ps3 getting that proposed upgrade to play 3d blurays, or was that a lie?
@Joeyjoejoe Shabadoo The update is supposed to hit this summer if I'm not mistaken.
@Joeyjoejoe Shabadoo
Captures of the new OS version show 3D Blu-ray settings.
I would like to thank the consumer market for purchasing an HDTV. I would now like to let you know, even though we said it would be a super awesome modern TV, it won't play our new 3D format.
Seriously, people are finally starting to buy HDTVs, they are already telling us they are obsolete.
@glamajamma New to consumer electronics? You'd think an Engadget reader would know this is common practice in the consumer electronics market.
So now there are, what, 2 movies ib the world that support 3D? I think I'll wait 'til 2012 (the actual year ;-))
@Sad Sack Or you could wait for Avatar. There are a lot of 3D movies coming to theater now so the list will grow.
@Sad Sack
You are kidding, right?
http://www.3dmovielist.com/list.html
Imagine a world where everything is in 3D!
What could we call it? side-view, since it seems we can see the sides of things. Oh, maybe outlandish.. no... out-of-this-screen. That's stupid. Oh, wait, I'll put the two together
Outside!
A world Outside where everything is in 3D. *sigh*. Well, I got to run and hang out with my friends. We are going to take down a boss in WoW then have some virtual beers in Second Life, post our status updates on facebook. Although Frank doesn't like this new 3D stuff, so at the end of the day we might have to settle our differences in Bad Company 2. Outside. That'll be the day.
Its already a PITA to buy controllers so your friends can play video games with you...and that caps at 4 opntrollers. Now I have/would have to buy glasses for 150 just so people can watch 3D movies? That would START at 4 glasses. Screw that. I'll just buy HD for life. I've only seen one movie that was cool in 3D. The rest were annoying. It wasn't so cool I would want to go blow a ton of money.
I'll just wait for smell-o-vison w/ 3D and upgrade then.
As long as you have to wear glasses I will never watch a 3D anything.
@Jaylittles531 Amen. I already wear glasses. Do I have to get vision corrected 3D glasses or put contacts in every time I want to watch TV?
This will die twitching in a ditch. I bought a blu-ray player having waited to see who won the format war and the blu-ray stock in the UK shops is still a tiny fraction of the DVDs. Some large chains carry no blu-rays at all. I bought an HD ready TV and there is a miniscule number of HD broadcasts available for me to watch. I'd sooner they directed their R&D at getting the best picture for the lowest power consumption.
@niBBlingengadget I don't understand why you wouldn't want to put these on to watch 3D when they already wear glasses. These go over glasses. If you already wear glasses, what is there to annoy you?
@Jaylittles531
Yeah really. You are already a nerd, at least now you'll be disguised as just another 3D movie viewer. :D
No really, I wear contacts and have a 3D set up at home. However, occasionally I wear glasses and the 3D glasses fit over perfectly fine.
"3D Blu-ray version of Monsters vs. Aliens, which is exclusive to Samsung for the time being"
eBay negates any exclusivity.
Of course you could just buy the kit, right?
I just got a Sony player that will get updated later for 3D.
So now the consumer confusion begins.
What if you buy a Sony player and have a Samsung TV? Can you use Sony glasses or does it have to be Samsung? Or does it even matter?
There will probably be other similar questions like if you can even mix brands of player and TV and receivers passing the 3D HDMI signal.
And then there's those that purchased the older 3D-ready (Samsung and Mitsu) rear projection HDTVs that will be thinking that they are already all set with the TV and they just need the player and glasses. They'll need a 'kit' too. Better make sure you get the right one!
How shiny those glasses are... just give me a normal oled screen... not wearing those
Want!
/looks into emtpy wallet.
/cry
Story of my life...*sigh*
who cares.
it is odd because the difference (in price) between a LCD conventional (for computer) and a 3d lcd is about 20-30% while in lcd-tv the difference is over 100%.
May be the price will drop suddenly in the next months.
@magallanes I bought a $1,700 HDTV (Samsung LN40A650) less than eight months after it's release (March '08 / December '08) for $1250 from Best Buy with three years no interest. I expect these TV's prices to drop just like that.
That box is a perfect example of over-packaging a product!
@JustThatNerdyGuy Yes, cardboard and shiny plastic. That is insane. I mean... who does that? I was expecting plain brown cardboard and maybe some steel wire holding the glasses in place.
If these HDTV 3D TV is like Alice and wonderland in IMAX then I'm all for it and why are these comment down grading 3D. I think it's about time we move into the future.
@MPRDIGITAL30
3D is not the future; it's old tech from the '50's, dusted off, spit shined and presented as something 'new'. Fake shutter-3D on LCDs is not some glorious future-tech. It's a gimmick designed to keep a high margin on products that are commodities that drop in prices every few months.
Also, the movie industry loves 3D because it's nearly impossible to pirate.
You want the future? Give us holograms.