Since it actually became a reality of sorts, I’ve neither been fanatical about nor enthusiastic for 3D TV. I’m not sure why. After all, it’s been a wonderful orb set to rise on the future horizon for a long time. Now it’s just one more thing that sits somewhere between yawn-inducing boredom and outright annoyance.
The annoying part is demonstrated by 3D movies. I’ve discovered in more than one case that 3D can actually ruin a cinema outing. Now I avoid 3D movies. In fact, I’ve announced that I won’t go to them any more.
Avatar was a beautiful movie. I saw it in 3D IMAX and enjoyed every bit of it. But TRON:Legacy was a disaster in my 3D IMAX experience. I liked the movie well enough, but there were weird reflections in the 3D glasses from the white light on black uniforms. And sometimes I couldn’t tell which parts of the movie were the intentional 2D scenes vs. the 3D scenes. I’d already given up on 3D movies once before but I gave this one a shot based on a recommendation. I don’t intend to make that mistake again soon.
What I do enjoy at the theatre is higher resolution. Those new digital projection systems are wonderful!
I also like watching movies on HDTV and I expect that 4K TV will be wondefully compelling.
It reminds me of an article I read some years ago about computer screen resolution. The technology was headed toward higher and higher resolution displays but the author pointed out that color resolution, lots more colors, was much more important to our eyes than spatial resolution. It’s true. If you put a high-resolution screen beside a lower-resolution but more-colors screen, you’ll prefer the more subtle, richer colors over the higher res.
Just like there’s a place for written text, and there’s certainly a place for 2D images that aren’t moving, there will always be a place for 2D movies.
Yet, some day some inventor will get it just right and create a 3D experience you have to go out and buy. For now, I wonder if we’ll advance effect of immersion too far. I don’t want to walk in a room at my house and have to grab a light sabre to fight for my life! Sometimes I just want to sit down and watch TV.
See also
Future of 3-D TV Murky as ESPN Ends Channel by Brian Stelter at the New York Times.
Via @mediagazer
Image credit: David Berkowitz on Flickr. CC by 2.0.