Are you ready for 3D?

I'm ready for this latest version of the 3D hype to be over, which it will, eventually. You still have to wear a goofy pair of glasses to see an image not radically different than a Viewmaster, with basically two layers of separation, and diminished brightness. But, if it helps the economy to send tech fanboys running to replace their HD sets, so be it. I bought into Blu-ray, but that, to me, is a solid enhancement of the original viewing experience of a film. 3D was, is, and always will be a gimmick. Bring on the holographs!

Is this the road we are going down now?  With sponsors and vendors hawking their wares in the form of threads?

Call me when true full color holographic displays are available and affordable.

Glasses.... we don' need no stinkin' glasses...

And if you fall for the projector route, don't forget to add ~$300-$400 per year for replacement lamps - the model linked to has a $360 replacement cost (of course, it depends on projector model and your personal viewing habits - you might get more if you're *very* conservative and careful).  If you want longer "life" be prepared to turn off the projector before you go to sleep... otherwise it's a very expensive night light.

And I liked this statement on the replacement lamp page:
"Keep a spare projector lamp around to save your business presentation or preserve movie night just in case your original goes out."

Keep in mind that *most* lamps have a 90 day "warranty" that typically starts the day it *ships*... *NOT* the day it's installed.  That lamp'll be out of warranty before it's installed.

This site seems to "bury" warranty and lamp life information and pushes "extended" lamp warranties.

So what if it's a gimmick? Doesn't mean it can't be appreciated. Sound, Color, Widescreen, Surround Sound, Audio Commentaries, deleted scenes etc. were all "gimmicks"

You dudes that are pooh-poohing 3-D technology are sounding like grumpy old Men. Like that old man character Dana Carvey used to play on SNL "In my day we didn't have any TVs. We would just go outside and stare at the Sun all day, and that's how we liked it!"

 After i saw Avatar in 3D...i cant say i wouldn't want it. That was an amazing 3D experience! But, i wont be an early adopter this time around. 

Not "pooh-poohing" it... just the current "state of the art" delivery system.  Until there are 3-D displays that do *NOT* require the use of special glasses (or any other face wear) I'll ignore it.  I've seen many films in 3-D that *all* require some type of glasses.  They all sucked because of the glasses.  I've sworn off them until that is fixed.

Admittedly it would be nice not to have to wear glasses, but sometimes some compromise is necessary. To play a video game, you have to handle a controller. To use and iPod, you generally need to wear earphones, in order to enjoy many movies in OAR you often need to deal with unused space on your television set.

Fall for the projector route?  There is nothing wrong with a projector.  If you want to go bigger than 60" its a lot cheaper to by a projector and a lifetime supply of bulbs than a 100" plasma!  My RPTV takes a bulb too, and its still going strong 3+ years after purchase.  The average bulb lasts a minimum of 2500 hours.  That's over 1000 movies a year or a lot of TV if you are replacing your bulb every year.

Tami.

Do you have any information if the Optoma HD66 will be upgradable to HDMI 1.4? It's sounding like 1.4 will be a requirement for 3-D displays using the upcoming 3-D Blu-Ray format.

 

That's the only thing holding me back.

Blech - phooey! 3D gives me a headache (and phooey to the ad in the forum!)

Optoma HD66 720P 3D-Ready DLP Projector Deal = $688.48 shipped from Amazon!

....ADVERTISER WARS? Don't forget this great 3D glasses deal (3-pack).

Thanks for the reply back.  3D BluRay titles are expected to become available this summer, so for just about everybody, HDMI 1.4 will be a big factor, as it's part of the BluRay 3-D spec. Should you hear anything on a firmware upgrade on the HD66, please let us know.