Editors Note 8/1/13: 3D TV’s work perfectly fine during the day as well.
There seems to be some misconceptions about 3D televisions. I myself enjoy 3D movies and was interested in the possibility of viewing 3D movies at home. Then I heard that you could play certain video games in 3D as well. After reading an article about someone who had played a God of War video game in 3D I was definitely excited about the possibility of getting my own 3D TV. I can’t remember exactly where I read the article but I do remember the article seemed a little over exaggerated as the writer described it as if he had never really experienced a video game before he played one in 3D. He went on to say after about 15 minutes of gameplay on the 3D set he was convinced that 3D was a legitimate option for experiencing video games.
After reading all this I was definitely interested. I set out to learn all that I could about the differences among 3D TV’s on the market. I went online but the descriptions were a little too vague for me to really grasp the differences. Its easy to say something is better on paper but if you can’t experience it first hand how can you really know which TV is actually better? It was quickly becoming apparent that many people were excited about the 3D TV’s but few seemed to have any solid facts about the devices. Even more disappointing was that even most of the people in the stores that sold 3D TV’s didn’t know much about them.
I actually had a conversation with someone who worked in the electronics department of one of the bigger retailers that went something along the lines of this. Me– “Hey so I am really interested in these 3D TV’s.” Salesman– “Oh yeah they are pretty cool check them out.” Me– “I did, I was wondering what the differences were? and which kind you think is better?” Salesman– “These TV’s do 3D” Me– “Yes I know, but what are the differences in models?” Salesman– “These TV’s do 3D” and that was basically the answer to every question I had from there out. Not very reassuring when you are thinking about investing in something as pivotal as a new TV when the conversation you have with the person who is supposed to be selling these things quickly boils down to a bad Spinal Tap skit. So needless to say this pushed me back on the side of caution. Since the salesman didn’t know anything about these things I decided it was best to put off getting one.
Then about last November I was in one of those big bargain warehouses that sell everything and I noticed the prices on 3D TV’s had come down considerably. I decided I would take another look. After talking with someone who worked there and trying out a few demo’s I decided I would give it a shot. I knew Killzone 3 can be played in 3D and I was dying to try it. I settled on a 47 inch LG 3D TV. It took me a day or two to figure out how to optimize the 3D. What I had to do was go into my Playstation 3 settings and have it scan the TV for all its features. Once I figured this out it was game on!
I think the first 3D Blu-ray I bought was the third Transformers movie. The story is meh but the visuals were stunning. We are talking full 1080p in 3D! Giant robots are flying off the screen, whizzing through space, blowing each other up. The experience was unreal! Then it was on to the video games, how would they stack up? First I tried out Assassin’s Creed III. Once I figured out the 3D setting in the options menu and tweaked them for the size screen I was playing on it was awesome. I was walking through a 3 dimensional colonial Boston in the mid 18th century. The environments in Assassin’s Creed III are so vast and rich that experiencing them in 3D enhances it so much more. You feel like you really are walking through these places. Killzone 3 was another great experience the 3D honestly makes everything more immersive. The particle effects at times can feel a bit gimmicky but most of the time they really do add to the atmosphere of a hostile alien planet. Its kind of wild the first time you site your weapons in the game, in 3D you suddenly feel like everything has more depth and mass. The Avengers movie is one of the best examples of why you should try a 3D TV. The 3D on the TV is better than in the theaters and I am not exaggerating.
There are legitimate concerns about adopting the 3D lifestyle. First and foremost is cost. When 3D TV’s first came out they were definitely a high-end item. Now though you can get a really nice 50 inch 3D HD TV for about $785 on Amazon. You can get a 42 inch for under $500. The 3D Blu-rays do cost about $5 more than a traditional Blu-ray but most of them also come with the DVD copy as well as a digital copy you can put on your computer or MP3 player. A 3D Blu-ray player will cost about $70. Any Playstation 3 can be used as a 3D Blu-ray player.
Another concern with 3D TV’s are the glasses. Part of the debate on what 3D TV to get was which kind of 3D glasses do you want to use? There are two different kinds, active and passive. The active glasses either need batteries or need to be charged but the point is they are a powered 3D pair of glasses to enhance your experience and the passive glasses are just like the ones from the movie theater and require no power at all. They come in plastic sleeves with small boxes to store them in and a little cloth to wipe them off if they get smudged. The TV’s usually come with at least 4 pairs of glasses included. The passive glasses can cost about as low as $3.25 a piece and the active glasses can be as low as $13.00 a piece if you ever need more. Personally I have only used the passive glasses and I think they work great.
Here is another myth about 3D TV’s. You don’t have to watch everything in 3D all the time. It totally functions as a normal high-def TV just with the bonus feature of being 3D capable. Obviously content made for 3D will look the best in 3D on your TV but you can convert regular TV to 3D if you want, it just won’t look quite as good as actual 3D made content. So don’t panic you can use the 3D features on the TV when and how you see fit.
People say the glasses give you headaches and after a little while they become intolerable. It takes my eyes about five to ten minutes to totally adjust and in that time I honestly forget I am even wearing them. Movies and video games both feel more immersive with 3D. 3D TV’s I think were the victim of poor marketing. Manufacturers I guess assumed that 3D movies were doing well so 3D TV’s would sell well but with poor messaging about how a 3D TV actually functioned and an initially steep price tag made many consumers hesitant calling 3D TV’s just a fad.
3D programming is being discontinued on cable networks right now. ESPN is discontinuing their 3D channel soon, if they haven’t already, and the BBC has announced they will be taking a 3 year hiatus from their 3D programming at the end of this year. A low number of 3D TV adopters are quoted as being the reasoning for these cancellations. While this news isn’t exactly great news for 3D TV owners now is a good time to try one out. If you are in the market for a new TV, a 3D capable set is priced fairly competitively with TV’s that don’t have 3D abilities. New 3D video games and movies are released all the time and the 3D library of content is continuously growing. Hopefully this clears up some of the questions you might have had about 3D TV’s.
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