3D Poll: Will 3D at Home Make a Comeback? (1 Viewer)

[DFurr]

Ah the joys of having a dedicated movie theatre in your home!! Of course we gave up the 2 car garage to make this happen. 3D ready 24/7, automated and everything controlled by a key-fob. You only go around once!!

 

[Josh Steinberg]

How much can the 3D circuitry add to the cost of a 4k TV set?

The cost is insignificant.

 

[Radioman970]

I'd like to see passive, active, and no glasses 3D (and hell yes, red/green!!!) all added to the same damn TV set!!!! /brain waves out of the box

 

[Interdimensional]

Will 3DTV return? ... Of course!

Short term, quite possibly. Long term: definitely.

 

[John Sparks]

Got into 3D just this year when I purchased my Epson 3D/4K PJ and player. Up to 131 films and am enjoying them immensely. Even though they are releasing some of the newest high action films in the UK only, they are still releasing them. So, I'm hoping it continues!

 

[WillG]

The cost is insignificant.

I bet consumers complained, and still would, that they were forced to pay for something they didn't want.

Yeah, I tend to agree with those things don't look good for 3D displays ever coming back, at least in the way we know them. I know the glasses free thing will eventually emerge but from what I understand they can't (unless they figure out some kind of magic technology) replicate "pop-out" effects which kind of kills half the fun.

Note though that apparently 3D Blu-Rays work with the PlayStation VR headset (and you technically don't even need a PS4 to use the set as a display). So I guess there's that option for anyone who gets in a bind.

 

[Malcolm R]

I bet consumers complained, and still would, that they were forced to pay for something they didn't want.

Then they should strip 4K ability from current sets, as I doubt very many households are running full 4K content.

 

[RolandL]

When we had our house built, I asked them to split the area above the garage. One bedroom, one home theatre room. The HTR has a 3D projector, receiver and 3D Blu-ray player behind the convertible L shaped couch. I project on to a wall and it looks great. Three matched speakers below the image on the wall, two surround speakers on the walls above the sides of the couch, subwoofer to the left of the couch.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Then they should strip 4K ability from current sets, as I doubt very many households are running full 4K content.

Are you kidding?

 

[RolandL]

Then they should strip 4K ability from current sets, as I doubt very many households are running full 4K content.

I bet most people are watching SD content and stretching the image to fill the screen on their 4K TV.

 

[Edwin-S]

Are you kidding?

I think he was just making a point that it was/is a dumb idea to strip a TV set of a feature because some people are not taking advantage of it. There are a lot of people who used the 3D function, who have now had their collections orphaned by these lousy consumer electronic companies.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I think he was just making a point that it was/is a dumb idea to strip a TV set of a feature because some most people are not taking advantage of it. There are a lot of some people who used the 3D function, who have now had their collections orphaned by these lousy consumer electronic companies.

With the above corrections and whether we like to admit it or not that was the crux of why they were stripped. It sucks and those companies don't give a damn about their consumers which is why they moved on to their new marketing campaign. It remains to be seen if this one is more successful and last longer than the last one. IMO, they screwed up this roll out too which is power for the course with this industry. I'm including the studios and content providers too as part of the industry.

 

[Malcolm R]

We all pay for things we don't utilize fully: insurance (most of the time), cable/satellite channels we don't watch, cars that can go over 100 mph when most speed limits don't exceed 70-75, heating/cooling systems that go up to 100 or down to 50 when most everyone sets their thermostat from 65-75, gym memberships, etc.

How and why 3D capability on televisions rose to the top of this list and triggered action by manufacturers is kind of ridiculous.

 

[Edwin-S]

Most people don't use the apps on their TVs and those aren't being stripped. And I doubt that very many mainstream consumers are fully taking advantage of their 4K sets. I do think 4K is going to have better acceptance because we have a predilection to be attracted to promises of more power or better resolution, even though, in a lot of those cases, the excess power is unused and the resolution difference is inconsequential at typical viewing distances. The strength of 4K sets isn't even their resolution; it is in their increased colour gamut, which is lost on average TV consumers. Most of them don't have a clue on how to do even the most basic calibration to get a reasonably good picture out of their sets, let alone notice any difference in PQ due to increased resolution.

 

[bigshot]

A few weeks ago, I was buying smart bulbs. There were two options... ones that were programmable and had a range of colors, and ones that did all that with the added ability to produce infrared night vision light so security cameras could see in the dark. The ones with infrared cost a little bit more. I bought the cheaper model without the night vision because I don't have a video security system like that. I think 3D TV is the same. If you don't see any use for it, you won't pay for it. If enough people don't see the use for it, the market forces the feature out. I'm sure night vision light bulbs will go the same way. Who wants a camera to be able to see them clearly when they get up in their boxers to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night?

 

[Edwin-S]

A few weeks ago, I was buying smart bulbs. There were two options... ones that were programmable and had a range of colors, and ones that did all that with the added ability to produce infrared night vision light so security cameras could see in the dark. The ones with infrared cost a little bit more. I bought the cheaper model without the night vision because I don't have a video security system like that. I think 3D TV is the same. If you don't see any use for it, you won't pay for it. If enough people don't see the use for it, the market forces the feature out. I'm sure night vision light bulbs will go the same way. Who wants a camera to be able to see them clearly when they get up in their boxers to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night?

Have you seen the price of 4K televisions go down because 3D was dropped? I certainly haven't. The costs of 3D technology were already sunk, so the argument that including the feature was increasing the cost of TV sets is just so much nonsense in my book.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

For better or worse, people in general don't like to feel as if they're paying for things they don't need. I don't know why 3D rose to the level of "That sounds expensive, and the existence of it on my TV set is offense to me" while the same people probably don't mind that their car goes faster than they can use or cable channels they don't watch, but it did.

I also don't know when we as a society switched to a philosophy where it's only worth doing something if there are maximum profits. I can accept that home 3D isn't a priority for most people. But I seem to remember "the old days" when maybe if a feature or a product wasn't completely mainstream, that it could still thrive as a niche industry. That, to me, is one of the more disappointing things about today's way of doing business.

We're seeing a version of that attitude play out with the major studios and their catalog releases. Most of the major studios have decided now that it's not worth their time or effort to put out older movies on disc, because it's not worth the effort for only a small profit when other endeavors they work on gross so much more. But in the case of the studios, they've made business deals with labels like Kino and Twilight Time who are interested in putting out those catalog titles, so in the end, we as the consumer still have access to that material. It might cost a little more because it's not as popular or in demand, but the movies are available. I wish there were something equivalent for 3D. OK, we get it, it didn't drive sales for Sony or Samsung or LG so they dropped it. But there isn't one manufacturer out there who couldn't keep it on their brand, even with a premium charge for it, just for the sake of filling that niche market? That everything has become so "all or nothing" is concerning to me.

Ultimately, as long as our economy is being driven by that kind of "everything or nothing" mentality, I don't expect 3D to return, and I expect other choices to become limited over time as well.

 

[bigshot]

Have you seen the price of 4K televisions go down because 3D was dropped?

I don't know because I don't have a 4K TV. But I got a 1080p set without 3D for dirt cheap during a Woot! sale.

Everybody would like everyone else to have to pay extra for something they don't need, but when it's something you don't need that costs extra, it's a different story. That's why supply and demand is the best way to work these things out.

 

[Edwin-S]

That's a good one. I don't need digital downloads or standard Blu-ray discs in my 4K purchases, but I'm not bitching about having to pay for something that someone else uses. I'm not demanding they stop putting those discs in there, so I can save a couple of dollars. If you are getting a 1080p set for dirt cheap, it is because the technology is becoming obsolete, not due to 3D being on it or not.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Everybody would like everyone else to have to pay extra for something they don't need, but when it's something you don't need that costs extra, it's a different story. That's why supply and demand is the best way to work these things out.

I don't need digital downloads or standard Blu-ray discs in my 4K purchases, but I'm not bitching about having to pay for something that someone else uses. I'm not demanding they stop putting those discs in there, so I can save a couple of dollars.

For those of us who have supported 3D at home since its roll out or soon after, this is a perfect example of what's become so frustrating. 3D can't be included as a feature on new TVs, even though it doesn't really cost anything to add (especially if the manufacturer passes off the cost of glasses to the customer), because some people don't want it. The 3D disc can't be included with the regular 2D disc just as part of the package, because people who are 2D-only don't want to have an extra disc they won't use. So OK, that's the argument for that. Don't know if I agree, but OK, let's accept that it's a legitimate argument.

Well, at the same time that works for that, as Edwin points out, we get all sorts of extra discs we don't need in other product configurations too. When I buy a Blu-ray of a title, I don't need a DVD copy included. I didn't ask for it, and I'd be happy to trade a few bucks off the purchase price for not having that disc. I'm happy to take the digital copy, but it's also something I didn't ask for, and I'd be happy to give it back to them for a few bucks off the purchase price. Who knows how many DVDs have been produced over the last decade that never even left the hub of the combo back?

It seems disingenuous to say that the 3D disc or the 3D capability on the set HAS to be eliminated, because most people aren't using them, but that the DVD and digital codes included with Blu-rays HAVE to stay, even though most people aren't using them. The inconsistency of it bothers me.