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Sanjib.Acharya
True! Though I've enjoyed 3D movies, I had to stop going to the 3D movies along ...
Youself
wow, you all must not have been to CES 2012 and seen the latest 3D TVs... very ...
Glasses-less 3-D, free-viewpoint coming to future TVs
Dylan McGrath
2/22/2012 10:32 AM EST
SAN FRANCISCO—Future televisions will be smarter, more intuitive and feature even more technically logical advanced displays, according to a panel of experts at the International Solid State Circuits Conference here Tuesday (Feb. 21). Among the technologies that will become more prevalent in coming years are glasses-less 3-D technology and free-viewpoint television (FTV)—a a visual media that allows users to view a 3-D scene by freely changing the viewpoint, as if they were there, panelists said.
"Over the last few years, there have been big changes in mobile phones and communication devices. I think similar changes will happen in television, as well," said David Min, vice president of LG Electronics Inc.'s software center. "However, I think the changes that will happen in TV will be somewhat different from what has happened in mobile phones."
Min predicted that future TVs would incorporate more "smart" functionality, more connectivity, better quality displays and virtual reality capability.
"Being smart is about providing some connectivity," Min said. "In the old days, the TV was nothing but a medium. But with connectivity, the TV is getting more intelligent."
Several panelists talked about the need for standardization in TV platforms. Min said consumers would decide whether platforms such as Google TV would proliferate.
Yuzo Hirayama, chief research scientist at Toshiba Corp.'s multimedia laboratory, said the near future of 3-D TV involves glasses-less technology. Toshiba has been selling since 2010 20- and 12-inch 3-D TVs in Japan which do not require glasses, Hirayama said, and recently demonstrated the first "large sized" glasses-less 3-D screen, with a diagonal measure of 55-inches, he said.
Hirayama showed data from DisplaySearch that forecasted that the market for 3-D TVs would grow from under 25 million units and under $3 billion in 2011 to more than 200 million units and nearly $20 billion in 2018.
Also Tuesday, Masayuki Tanimoto, a professor from Japan's Nagoya University, presented information on the latest developments in free-viewpoint television, which uses dozens of cameras to capture 3-D images that users can navigate through any viewpoint to as though they were there. While the technology is still many years away from commercial availability, Tanimoto told the audience that part of Japan's bid for hosting the 2022 FIFA World Cup included making FTV of all of the soccer games available. Unfortunately, Japan's bid was not accepted.
"Over the last few years, there have been big changes in mobile phones and communication devices. I think similar changes will happen in television, as well," said David Min, vice president of LG Electronics Inc.'s software center. "However, I think the changes that will happen in TV will be somewhat different from what has happened in mobile phones."
Min predicted that future TVs would incorporate more "smart" functionality, more connectivity, better quality displays and virtual reality capability.
"Being smart is about providing some connectivity," Min said. "In the old days, the TV was nothing but a medium. But with connectivity, the TV is getting more intelligent."
Several panelists talked about the need for standardization in TV platforms. Min said consumers would decide whether platforms such as Google TV would proliferate.
Yuzo Hirayama, chief research scientist at Toshiba Corp.'s multimedia laboratory, said the near future of 3-D TV involves glasses-less technology. Toshiba has been selling since 2010 20- and 12-inch 3-D TVs in Japan which do not require glasses, Hirayama said, and recently demonstrated the first "large sized" glasses-less 3-D screen, with a diagonal measure of 55-inches, he said.
Hirayama showed data from DisplaySearch that forecasted that the market for 3-D TVs would grow from under 25 million units and under $3 billion in 2011 to more than 200 million units and nearly $20 billion in 2018.
Also Tuesday, Masayuki Tanimoto, a professor from Japan's Nagoya University, presented information on the latest developments in free-viewpoint television, which uses dozens of cameras to capture 3-D images that users can navigate through any viewpoint to as though they were there. While the technology is still many years away from commercial availability, Tanimoto told the audience that part of Japan's bid for hosting the 2022 FIFA World Cup included making FTV of all of the soccer games available. Unfortunately, Japan's bid was not accepted.
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chanj
2/22/2012 12:19 PM EST
Glassless 3DTV sounds appealing. There is no doubt better entertainment components delivered. Yet, I am still not convinced that 3DTV is providing more and better information than a regular HDTV. What do you think?
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goafrit
2/22/2012 4:09 PM EST
I share your views. When you include the cost, it quickly loses any value.
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pixies
2/23/2012 3:41 PM EST
It takes time for people to adapt. This has happened every time when a paradigm shift occurred. When movie replaced theater, when sound and color were introduced into movie, and when computer animation was introduced, the content-providers did not how to utilize the new dimension at first, and eventually they got better and better. When Intel first came up with a 1000 transistor IC, people were asking why do we need a circuit with a thousand transistors, and look what we go now.
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dylan.mcgrath
2/22/2012 1:46 PM EST
Personally, I am not that interested in 3DTV. I certainly would not pay a premium for it. I think a lot of the TV manufacturers believe that "smart" TV is more likely to drive upgrades than 3D alone. The newer smart TVs also include 3D capability, so even if that wasn't the reason for buying it, perhaps having the feature will make those of us who aren't interested in it come around. Yuzo Hirayama of Toshiba showed a slide that indicated that 68 percent of respondents to a survey said they weren't interested in 3DTV because of the glasses requirement.
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Frank Eory
2/22/2012 4:48 PM EST
And if no-glasses 3D TV becomes widely deployed, 68 percent of respondents to a survey will say they don't use the 3D feature for long periods of time because it makes them nauseous.
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Sanjib.Acharya
2/26/2012 1:06 AM EST
True! Though I've enjoyed 3D movies, I had to stop going to the 3D movies along with my wife as she doesn't enjoy it. :D
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Dr DSP
2/22/2012 11:49 PM EST
Will I be able to watch BSG on netflix in 3D? Probably not. With so much content in non-3D it would seem that 3D is a very small market. Now a 3D computer screen- that might be interesting. 3D charts, plots and diagrams. Now that I might use...
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LarryM99
2/23/2012 11:36 AM EST
The question to ask for something like 3D is whether or not it adds value. If it does, then it becomes a question of what that value is worth. If Cost(3DTV) GT Worth(3DTV) then it is a bust. Otherwise, it is doable. Personally, the hassle of using glasses makes that cost too high. A good non-glasses implementation would be interesting, though. I'd seriously check it out.
Larry M.
P.S. I tried to use a 'greater-than' symbol above, but the comment police wouldn't let me. Sigh...
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Youself
2/23/2012 4:37 PM EST
wow, you all must not have been to CES 2012 and seen the latest 3D TVs... very compelling way to enjoy certain kinds of content. Comparing HD and 3D is apples and oranges. 3D adds on top of HD.
Go see some good 3D movies at the theatre and you can also see good implementations of 3D content at your local Sony Store... they usually have some very nice NHK HD 3D b-roll on display with some of their TVs.
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