3D - Does anyone know the future?

[PBMax]

OK, if you don't "know," that seems excusable. But it feels like we are on the verge of the next revolution. It's only a matter of time before we can walk around a cube where we can see the entirety of movement from whatever angle we wish.

For now, we have Blu Ray and the next generation, which seems like it will include heavy 3D playback. This thread could have gone many places, but I like this one.

Finally, the question is multi-faceted. If you were close on buying a high end receiver or seperates, would you wait to see if 3D decoding was included, or do you think current high end players will be capable of handling this?

If you were on the verge of buying a new display, but already owned something that delivered a good picture, would you trust that the current top end offerings would deliver 3D, or would you wait for the next generation?

I have a Denon 4802 and a 50' 2004 Panasonic that was awesome in it's day. I will be replacing both, but the only question is "How soon?"

The wife seems generally on board, but I don't want to have to push to justify buying twice in a short timeframe.

I'm pretty much looking at playing back a movie like "Avatar" as the benchmark of the near future and whether the equipment available now are worthy of handling it capably, and if not, how long it will take to have that equipment available.

 

[Serj22]

I just know that 3D better not be the next step. It gives me a huge headache and my eyes water like crazy if I try to watch it. I'd rather have a "green-ray" or something, but 3D better remain a novelty thing.

 

[MidnightSensi]

This may be better suited for the General section, maybe a mod will move it?

3D has been around for a while and has remained a novelty, but now seems to be having a revival. I always liked Terminator 3D when I was a kid at Universal or wherever it is. I thought the combination of 3D with big sound and screen was really something. Now if I went back it would probably look dated...

I'm not sure what 3D would be like at home though. If I'm watching even an action movie at night, do I want to watch it in 3D or is it too much of a space invasion. What about people who watch movies sort of passively, like in the background while they do other things....

I guess I'd have to see it first before I could say if I think it will be the next thing. I don't think technology is the limiting factor anymore, it is going to be if people want to watch things in 3D.

 

[HDTV Guru]

3D decoding

I think that all you need on your DVD player/game console end is the ability to output 1080p. What current consumer systems are doing is outputting 1080p, with the left eye representd by the left half of the screen and the right eye representd by the right half (the image is a screen split down the middle, with an anamorphic image on each side with really tall/skinny people.

It's really up to the display device to extract and play the 3D signal correctly, whether the source does it as dual anamorphic images (as above), interlaced left/right (two 1080i signals in a 1080p carrier) or alternating 1080i images. I suppose that future players might have adual-link HDMI or dual HDMIs to support 2x1080p for 3D, but that's unlikely short term as compatibility with cirrent equipment is paramont for consumer accepatance of this technology.

If the display device you have doesn's support 3D now then it won't in the future with polarized glasses, it would only work with anaglyphic 3D (red/blue lenses) or active shutter glasses (expensive).

 

[skizzerflake]

3D will continue to evolve, but not necesarily for the right reasons. One of the things that is appealing to the industry is that there isn't a good way to pirate or record 3D movies. Once somebody comes up with a consumer-level way to deliver 3D at home, it will lose that advantage. Right now it's the lawyers and accountants that are promoting it.

 

[AVRat]

I wouldn't even want 3D on anything less than an 84" screen.