3dGlasses
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Samsung, JVC pick RealD tech for their new 3D LCD televisions
A part of 3D's assault on the home theater this year is a battle over which glasses technology each manufacturer will choose, and after locking up Sony RealD has announced its tech is coming alongside new displays from JVC and Samsung. While JVC's 3D LCDs will use circular polarized passive glasses (like the ones you've probably worn at the movies) Samsung is promising to work on both active shutter LCD and passive eyewear models -- no word yet on any Gucci tie-ins, but it's still early.
James Cameron thinks he can get viewers asking to wear 3D glasses
The promotional hype train for Avatar is just getting started, one of the more recent stops was on 60 Minutes for an interview with director James Cameron. Of course one of the segments focused on was the film's potential to push 3D at home and in theaters, with Cameron dropping this interesting line on all the glasses-haters (video embedded after the break) "my goal has been, over the last few years to get people from a point of say "Do I have to wear the glasses?" to a point of saying "Do I get to wear the glasses?" because the glasses must then become associated the sense of a heightened experience, of a journey." Our trip took a turn towards believing in 3D after checking out the BCS National Championship game last year, we'll have to wait for the launch December 18 to see if this very Pocahontas / Dances with Wolves style sci fi tale is a similar turning point for others.
ASUS G51J 3D sports NVIDIA 3D Vision with 120Hz display to bring 'real' 3D to laptops
No knock on Acer, who got here first with the Aspire 5738DG, but it sounds like the ASUS G51J 3D has the technology edge in the nascent 3D laptop category. We'll have to see it in action to be sure, but the laptop is using NVIDIA's 3D Vision tech for extensive game compatibility (around 400 games currently work with it), and a 120Hz, 15.6-inch screen paired with some active shutter glasses. We've found the shutter method to be typically a more enjoyable 3D experience than polarized solutions, with no knock on frame rate or resolution. The GeForce GTX 260M card with 1GB of DDR3 memory doesn't hurt either, but that hugegantic USB IR blaster that has to sit on the desk and sync up with the glasses could be a problem for 3D-on-the-go. Of course, the benchmark friendly Core i7-based G51J which this machine is based on (the only real difference is the screen) was never much of one for portability. The laptop will be out soon, with a starting price of $1,700.
Acer's 3D-equipped Aspire 5738DG laptop gets official, examined
Acer's done plenty of boasting about its very first 3D laptop, the Aspire 5738DG, but it's just now gotten completely official, and let a few lucky folks get their hands on it. As you might expect, PC Magazine found the 3D part of the laptop to be something of a gimmick, although not entirely unimpressive. More specifically, while attempts at gaming or viewing standard video converted to 3D were apparently quite a letdown, the included TriDef software did reportedly do a pretty impressive job with photos, and the special 3D layer on top of the screen thankfully doesn't cause any nasty side effects when you're not using the 3D glasses. Otherwise, the laptop is expectedly just your basic mid-range Aspire: inexpensive (just $779 even with the 3D glasses), and capable enough for most folks not looking for a screaming gaming rig (2.2GHz Core 2 Duo, 4GB of RAM, and ATI Radeon HD 4570 graphics).Read - SlashGear, "Acer gets official with Aspire 5738DG 3D notebook"Read - PC Magazine, "Hands On with Acer's 3D Laptop"
Hitachi exhibits 10-inch glasses-free 3D display
Hitachi's face-recognizing, power-saving plasma may have been the outfit's show-stopper at CEATEC, but this little bugger here showed some pretty fantastic potential as well. The 10-inch 3D display, more formally known as the Full Parallax 3D TV, one-upped most every other 3D display at the show thanks to its ability to showcase dimensions sans any glasses. Unfortunately, the native resolution is just 640 x 480, and yes, it really is just 10-inches in size. In due time, the outfit hopes to scale up to screen sizes that may actually be appealing to end users by utilizing multiple projectors (each of which with a 800 x 600 resolution), though a 4K x 2K 3D display (of the glasses-free variety) is still probably a couple of trade shows out. At least.[Via 3D-Display-Info]
RealD figures designer glasses might help the acceptance of 3D
The solution to consumers gripes over ill fitting and odd looking 3D eyewear? Offer up polarized lenses in designer frames, or even prescription strength for glasses-wearers. That's what some execs have suggested at the 3D Entertainment Summit, revealing plans for Gucci and other frames to hit stores ahead of the launch of Avatar in December. We're still anticipating serious sticker shock when 3D comes home next year, tacking on ultraexpensive options above the already hiked theater price seems like the perfect way to stop any momentum this trend has gained.
Panasonic Full HD 3D experience eyes-on
It's been less than a year since we first entered Panasonic's demo trailer, the main difference at CEDIA this year was the addition of a trailer for James Cameron's Avatar. We were lucky enough to get an early look at the footage shown, while it shared much with the trailer released a few weeks ago, you haven't seen the Terminator and Titanic director's latest effort unless you've seen it in 3D. Check after the break for the rest of our thoughts on the 3D demo, and what the future has to hold for this display tech in the home.
PS3's new 3D mode captured on video, coming in 2010 to all existing games
You know what's absolutely useless? A video of Wipeout HD being played in 3D, with some schmuck wearing 3D glasses and babbling on about how much fun he's having. Well, that schmuck is this Engadget editor, the video can be found after the break, and we've gotta say: we loved it. Especially for something like Wipeout HD, whose neon-infused tracks make for an almost too convenient example of rapidly approaching vanishing points, we'd say 3D could really be a quasi-"killer app" for consoles going forward -- especially if those fancy new motion controllers don't catch on for Microsoft and Sony. In many ways, 3D just seems to make more sense in a video game than for a movie, and the whole problem of finding content to deliver in the format has already been solved: a software update for the PS3 sometime in 2010 will enable it to provide a 3D viewing experience to "all" existing games on the system. We're sure there will be some exceptions, but it sounds very promising. The console itself pumps out a quite regular signal over HDMI, which the TV syncs up with your 3D glasses. A 200Hz TV, for instance, alternates 1080p frames, with 100Hz for each eye. Of course, you'll need a brand new TV, but at least it won't be restricted to just Sony televisions. Start saving those pennies!
3D glasses included in two new Disney games for Xbox 360, PS3 & Wii
While you'll probably have to wait for James Cameron's Avatar for a proper stereoscopic 3D experience on consoles, Disney is readying two games this summer that will not only support anaglyph 3D (good news, it will work on any TV, bad news, it's the same low quality red/blue style 3D you've seen and ignored before), but come with two pairs of glasses packed in. Just continuing on the 3D hype its been dispensing to the kids with Jonas Bros. and Hannah Montana flicks both on the big screen and at home, highlighted most recently with Up and culminating in the upcoming Toy Story 1 & 2 3D remakes in October, Disney is clearly making an effort to work the technology in on every level with special 3D modes (no cheat codes necessary.) Toy Story Mania is a Wii-exclusive game due this fall based on the ride at its resorts, while G-Force brings spy guinea pigs to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 July 21.[Via Joystiq]
Theaters, studios squabbling over who will pay for 3D
We're not hopping off the 3D bandwagon, but just when things couldn't be going any better a fight over money could knock things off course. Fox apparently informed theaters it wouldn't foot the $1 million bill to cover 3D glasses for Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, and already word is leaking out that the nation's largest theater chain Regal Cinemas is planning to only screen the flick in 2D, with AMC Theaters and Cinemark poised to follow suit. For its part, Fox is claiming no exhibitor has said they won't be showing Ice Age in 3D and they're only "working out the issues." Of course if they did, the plan of offering 3D as something audiences can't get at home could be turned on its head quickly.[Via Cinematical]
New cable brings iPhone, 3D support to Vuzix eyewear
We know your pain, Vuzix users. You hop on the subway just trying to enjoy a little in-your-face action before the workday begins, and within minutes the accusations and stereotypes start flying. "Look, it's Geordi La Forge!" "LeVar Burton, what's good?!" "Can I try my Zune on that?" Depressing, really. Unfortunately for you, Vuzix's latest cable will not make any of that any more sufferable, though it will enable you to use your existing eyewear with Apple's iPhone and enjoy the spoils of side-by-side, interlaced and anaglyph 3D content. Said cable will be bundled in with the company's iWear AV230XL, though existing customers will definitely want to snag the standalone version for $39.95. The full release is after the break.
iZ3D debuts polarized 3D glasses, announces DirectX 10 driver
iZ3D, the company responsible for that $399 22-inch 3D monitor, has just unveiled a new way to see the third dimension at the Game Developer Conference in San Francisco. The new polarized 3D glasses are currently in beta testing and should soon be released alongside the iZ3D v2.0 / DirectX 10 driver. Reportedly, these linear polarized glasses will solve color viewing issues experienced by some users, not to mention allowing for easier user adjustments. Full releases for both the spectacles and the new driver are just past the break.
Wazabee autostereoscopic overlays bring glasses-free 3D to iPhone, ultraportables
While the engineers at Cupertino may or may not be toiling away on a 3D operating system, the gurus at Spatial View definitely are... in a manner of speaking, anyway. The company, which prides itself on making products "for creating 3D effects," is bringing a new trio to MacWorld 2009. First up is the Wazabee 3DeeShell, which is detailed as "a special protective skin with an integrated removable lens that can display 3D content on the Apple iPhone." On deck is the 3DeeFlector, an "autostereoscopic overlay for the MacBook Air and other 13.3-inch notebooks," which supposedly brings eye-popping visuals (and headaches, we'd imagine) to your ultraportable without the need for humiliating glasses. Finally, the Wazabee 19-inch Gaming Display will probably go head-to-head with the IZ3D, though a frighteningly light amount of details are currently available. One's things for sure out of all this -- three-dee is the future, y'all.%Gallery-39758%
XNA's Satchell: Microsoft experimented with 3D gaming display
"Well of course they did," you're probably saying to yourself after reading the above headline. "Practically every game on the Xbox 360 has 3D graphics. When is this news from, 1987? HA! HA! *snort*." Don't be such a smartass, hypothetical reader! We're talking about stereoscopic 3D displays, such as those being used by Ubisoft's upcoming Avatar game or Texas Instruments' upcoming DualView TV. In an excerpt from an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, XNA General Manager Chris Satchell revealed that Microsoft actually looked into using this stereoscopic technology for gaming, but determined the need for special glasses made the idea impractical. "I think it is hard to be mainstream with asking people to wear headgear to play games," he said, thus explaining the failure of Hat Hat Revolution. That said, Satchell hinted at "some very interesting technology being developed that can overcome this obstacle, and it will be interesting to see where this leads." Oh, we all know where this leads, all right.
projectiondesign demos single projector 1080p 3D system
projectiondesign is apparently working on a 3D projection-based solution to fit anyone's need. If a rotating panoramic display or eight camera visualization system seems like overkill, try its latest 2D/3D 1080p projector on for size. When driven by a dual-head PC via DVI it can deliver 3D in 1080p at 60Hz from a single projector, courtesy of a pair of active wireless glasses kept in sync with the projector via IR. AVING reports the system is expected in Korea in September and has a few more pics from the presentation, but your guess is as good as ours as to when this might be available in the U.S., and at what cost.
