• by ryan.y , September 24, 2010

This week I want to look at a revitalized fad within consumer cinema and television. I'm talking about the recent attempt at the resurrection of stereoscopic film and television. The technology itself is nothing new, its first major applications can be traced back to the 1950s. So why is it sixty years later would this technology attempt a comeback. My opinion is it’s simply a marketing cash grab. An attempt to get new products off the shelves and into homes through the appeal of a gimmicky technology, but it’s not only that, many vendors and companies believe that 3D is the next step in home entertainment. During the course of the last several years vendors have been pushing the new technology on consumers relentlessly, and numerous networks had begun to develop their own 3D content.

The problem I have with this is that the timing could not be any more horrific. The economy which has struggled profusely during the past several years has given way to a new bred of consumers, ones that place focus on saving and purchase practicality. The second issue with the timing is that it’s following in the wake of another major technology revolution: HDTV. Even with the recent advancements and strides 3D television has made, I feel that very few consumers will justify the purchasing of a brand new TV simply because its 3D. Keep in mind that its more then likely that a large number of these consumers have just recently purchased a new high definition television.

Now I'm not saying that 3D TV is terrible or that it will never become the future of home entertainment, which it very could be down the road (although a long one). 3D adds depth to the overall picture creating a much more immersive viewing experience. It broke the 2D plane that we are all accustomed to viewing our media on, and James Cameron’s Avatar was one of the most visually stunning features I’ve ever seen, a film shot specifically for stereoscopic image, But despite those points I still believe its not the time to try to spark another major technology revolution.

Not many consumers are going to want to spend three thousand dollars on a brand new TV set. It’s simply to much to undergo the switch financially, and not only would they have to buy the TV they would also have to purchase the glasses needed to watch the content, and depending on the size of your family, those glasses alone could end up costing you almost six hundred dollars for a family of five. Also some simply prefer to watch movies and media in 2d, I can't speak for every one, but I know for a fact that shoddily made 3D films can easily give me motion sickness and action on the screen can easily be lost within the motion blur that 3D creates.

As consumers though, you can make up your own minds on how you think 3D television fits into your life, But before I sign out, I want to leave my readers with a survey taking by one of my favorite sources on media and developing technologies, CNET. I found it to be a very interesting read, you can find it here: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-20017254-17.html.