Oh dear. As if the consumer electronics industry didn’t damage itself enough with the whole HD-DVD/Blu-ray farago, it now seems that a 3D format war is on the horizon. And just when I thought there might be some traction behind the idea of an extra dimension in your living room.
3DTV - let the battle commence
Next year, Sky will launch its 3D channel. I saw an impressive demonstration of the system (see my Sky 3DTV first impressions over on Stuff.tv or the YouTube vid below), which uses polarising glasses to allow the left and right eye to see different images (just as like most cinematic 3D films). Polarising TVs are already available in the far east, and cost a few hundred pounds more than equivalent two-dimensional LCDs.
But a new technology is nothing without content – so alongside a mixture of 3D movies and documentaries, Sky plans to broadcast live sporting events in 3D. Which might be enough to persuade people to upgrade to a 3D-ready TV. Perhaps one made by Sky’s official HD partner, Sony.
Funnily enough, Sony is about to announce that it will have 3D TVs on the market next year too. But there’s a problem: according to a report in the Financial Times, Sony is planning to sell displays that use ‘active shutter’ glasses. So instead of a polarising filter sending alternate lines of a screen to each eye, the glasses actually block each eye from seeing alternate frames.
The benefit to active glasses: you get 3D and HD together. The drawback: it work with Sky’s 3D channel as it currently stands.
It’s possible that Sky knows about Sony’s plans and will offer active-shutter compatibility. But it’s unlikely, as Sky 3D will use the standard Sky HD box for broadcasts, so doubling the framerate won’t be an easy task.
What’s more, Sony is expected to commit to making 3D-compatible Blu-Ray players and PS3 games. Which suggests it wants to control as much of that 3D hardware as possible.
Think of it as a landgrab: the sort of action that directly preceeds a drawn-out and bloody war. My advice to early adopters – who usually occupy the frontline of format wars – is sit this one out and wait for screens that don’t require any glasses at all.
Browse Timeline
Comments ( 2 )
If Sky offer Sky 3D for free to Sky+HD customers and send out some complementary glasses, what is there to adopt?
Sky+HD customers are essentially 3D ready unless, like my sister, you’re blind in either eye, in which case you’re screwed…
Tom added these pithy words on
Sep 02 09 at
2:55 pm
@Tom: Sadly, you’ll also need a new 3D-ready TV that is compatible with Sky’s polarising 3D system. And two eyes that work properly.
tom added these pithy words on
Sep 03 09 at
5:40 pm
