Why I’ll wait to jump on the 3D TV bandwagon
April 8th, 2010 // 1:41 pm @ Terrance Gaines
I am admittedly an early adopter, but with a twist – I only rush out to adopt the latest and greatest only if it makes sense to me.
– Which is why I opted to wait for the Apple iPad 3G to drop instead of jumping on the wifi only version…I need the 3G for when I am at work and can’t access certain sites due to IT policy need to dig deeper into the intewebz when I am not at home on my own computer.
– Which is also why I won’t be too eager to request a day off to celebrate the newly adopted Virginian observance of ‘Confederate History Month’ – which in a roundabout way, should be the ONE day I actually relax instead of going to work and slaving over my computer all day with only an hour for lunch.
*What was the point of this post again?*
All that to say, I probably won’t jump into the new 3D TV phenomenon that has taken over current television technology. Why do you ask? A couple of reasons:
- My current rear-projection TV in my basement, picture tube TV in the living room, and small 23 inch LCD TV in my bedroom work just fine. I take care of my TV’s and as a result, they last a long time. So while I am eager to see if I can duplicate the 3D experience I witnessed when I saw the movie ‘Avatar’ last winter, I haven’t even been able experience the now old technology of a LED or OLED TV yet…baby steps (I still don’t own a blu-ray player either – which just might make my “early adopter” membership null and void)
– I route all my audio & video through my A/V receiver. With 3D being so new, A/V receivers aren’t on the same page as 3D televisions. A 3D signal needs HDMI 1.4 capability to pump the signal to the TV. Most receivers on the market are only HDMI 1.3. So I would either have to also shell out even more money to find and buy a receiver than can pass a 3D signal to a 3D TV, or re-do my current setup to route all the video directly to the TV and all the audio directly to the reciever…Right now, Mrs. Tech and I are expecting our 2nd child in June, and currently, I am knee-deep in re-doing two rooms to make way for the new addition (tip: spend the extra money to have the furniture shipped AND ASSEMBLED!)- So I don’t have the time to play around with my A/V equipment right now. And with three women in the house…nevermind, I don’t even want to think about it.
*sheds a tear*
– 3D Glasses. You can’t just go out and buy any old (or cheap) 3D glasses and expect them to work on every 3D TV on the market. Right now, you need compatible glasses with compatible TV’s. On the flipside, all you “brand matchers” who MUST have all their components be of the same brand should be happy with that. For the rest of us, each TV has a specific pair of glasses that you must have (read: we got more stuff you need to buy) in order to get the full 3D experience. Some of the TV’s come with one or two pair of glasses, but after that, look to shell out approx. 75+ bucks per pair to outfit your average 4 person family with glasses (not including any guests you have over). Until 3D technology allows for glasses-free 3D viewing, I think I will sit this one out. Plus, those glasses they handed out when we went to see ‘Avatar’ were lame and i’m too cool for all that!
- 3D Content. There just isn’t enough “native” content out there to enjoy getting set up with 3D now. By native, I mean content filmed with 3D cameras, and produced and broadcasted via 3D media. You do remember how long it took the FCC to force Cable/Satellite providers to get Digital signals into the home right? There are some stations/providers stepping up and trying to pump out some 3D content sooner than later, but not enough to warrant a serious push to get regular folks who are still scratching their head with HDTV to make the jump to 3D TV.
It would be nice to get all excited over all the new toys I would need to go out and buy & setup to get 3D in my home, but right now, I will just have to get all excited over all the cleaning (Mrs. Tech calls it “nesting”), painting, and baby shower registering that lies ahead of me within the next month or two. – Yay!?
What do you think? Is it too soon to go out and buy a 3D TV? Do you already own a 3D-Ready TV? if so, have you sucessfully watched an 3D signal, glasses and all?
Category : Home Tech
My CES Wish List
January 8th, 2010 // 11:02 am @ Terrance Gaines
Since I will not be attending CES this year (can’t say that enough) I will still scour the interwebs to feed my hunger for the latest and greatest the show has to offer. But there are several technologies that I will really be on the lookout for. Here is my list and why
The Lowdown:
Do I have to use the glasses?
Over the holidays, I (and a ba-jillion other people) dropped some serious dough to watch the movie “Avatar”…and it didn’t disappoint either! I specifically searched out an IMAX 3D Experience just to see how good the movie would look in 3D…and it didn’t disappoint either! But my question is? Can TV’s and other components reproduce that same 3D experience at home? And how much will the average consumer have to shell out to take advantage? There are already some TV’s on the market that claim to be “3D Ready”…but are they really? Hopefully CES can shed some light on my
Cut Cable...DO IT!
I am almost positive more and more people are thinking about calling their cable/satellite provider and telling them to “kick rocks”. But they feel that in order to get decent programming, they are trapped under the thumb of these TV giants. I predict that the battle between Cable/Satellite TV and IPTV will be the next “format war” of this decade (I know they are not formats – I just couldn’t come up with anything clever). What I want to find out from CES is are the current and upcoming players in IPTV serious enough to take it to the TV gods.
'Good morning Mr. Tech. What can I do for you today?'
I just love this technology. The mere idea that my house can shoot me an email when my wife gets home; I can monitor my security cameras, turn my heat up or down, or set my DVR to record Oprah on my smartphone; control ALL of my electronics (including my oven, fridge, security, and HVAC) with one remote unit gets me going. I want to know how simple in cheap, or how difficult and costly it will be for the average consumer to convert their house into a “Smart Home”
So there are my questions CES MUST answer. What are yours?
Category : Home Tech
