Bringing 3D TV Into the Home

Monday January 11, 2010 - Shelby Cunningham

You couldn’t throw a stick without hitting a 3D TV demo at CES last week. If you wanted to get to get a proper demo, though, you had to wear special glasses. The consumer electronics makers say 3D is so compelling that consumers won’t mind the glasses.

I’m not sure wearing battery operated glasses while sitting in your own living room may be an attractive situation to some. I know that I like to multitask while watching TV and movies, and I know I'm not the only one who does that. And if you're watching TV while wearing special glasses you can't frequently gaze over to the laptop or smartphone.

The one home entertainment sector that I can see bringing 3D TV into the home quickly and with high numbers is gaming. My reason for this is simple: You are generally fully focused on the screen at all times while playing a game. You have no desire to check Twitter or send an email or Google a random actor's name in the middle of a game and are, therefore, going to have no problem keeping this pair of glasses on and looking at the screen.

Sony announced pre-CES that the PS3 would be able to play 3D games when hooked up to a 3D TV thanks to a simple firmware update. While it makes sense that the PS3 will be the first to hit the 3D gaming circuit (they even had demos at CES) because of Sony's line of 3D TVs, the Xbox 360 probably won't be too far behind since the console is already 3D compatible. Now it's just up to the game makers to create incredible 3D games, as well as the consumers to want to buy the TVs and glasses.