Samsung 3DTVs put to the test with World Cup, Monsters vs. Aliens and... iCarly?
By Richard Lawler 
posted June 17th 2010 8:04PM
posted June 17th 2010 8:04PM
Of course we've talked 3D to death and back, and we've seen several reviews and previews, but Technologizer took some time out to grab a more "man on the street" impression of the technology. With a mini focus group intact they checked out the Samsung Experience in NYC, taking time to focus on the top of the line 55-inch C9000 LED LCD HDTV. With not much 3D content (the initial viewing was before the world Cup started) they checked out some regular 2D content converted by the display into 3D, while viewers were surprisingly receptive to The Daily Show and Transformers 2 that way, iCarly and American Idol didn't fare quite as well. Still, viewers seemed excited by the 3D Blu-ray movie pack-in, and a short time later, some German 3D fans were impressed by the World Cup presentation, though like our impressions the effect varied based on the camera angle. Ultimately, none of the people asked seemed ready to buy a 3DTV yet, citing lack of content and prices as their main reasons. click through for the full impressions, we'll wait a week or so and see if there's a followup when there's two or more 3D channels and Blu-ray 3D movies to watch.
How much more are the 3DTVs? Last year, many CE companies promised it would be a minimal premium, like $100.00. If I were buying a new TV, I certainly would put 3D on top of my list for future proofing, especially at a minor overhead.
And if the glasses cost extra, that doesn't matter so much because ... see "lack of content"! When content starts rolling in, certainly we'll be inundated with 3rd Party alternatives that are much less expensive.
So while there may not be a huge reason to buy in for *right now*, buying in right now for the future seems like the way to go. (And yes, I have seen 3D demos, and I generally like it -- the trick is not just "make all content 3D" but "make *this* content 3D because it really benefits and works.)
-Pie
2d converted to 3d will NEVER look good. I don't see why people aren't understanding this. Either film it in 3d or 2d, and only display it in 3d if it was filmed that way (like avatar)
I will be talking about the TV I own, 50" plasma 3D. First of all, anyone that says that 2D to 3D conversion is not good or great does not own a TV with 2D to 3D conversion or has never seen one. It is flawless. I mean perfect. I have been watching Avatar on regular Blu-Ray and with 2D to 3D conversion and it makes it the best thing I ever saw, anywhere. I watched Avatar at Imax 3D 4 times and I remember ecery scene (I know what it is supposed to look like). This is the same if not better since the colors pop and the sharpnes of the picture can not be put into words. The 3D effect is phenomenal and it never fails, creates pop ups or ghosting. If you want a 3DTV and watch Avatar today buy this TV. Second, It will turn anything into 3D, again flawlesly. I watched my home videos in 3d, Scarface DVD, it all looks amazing. Video games too, MW2, NFS Shift puts you in the action, I mean any feed, game show, dvd, bluray, etc. You do not need to buy a 3D Player after this. I had it for about a week now and it may be the best thing I ever bought.
@zoran123
I'm sure your TV can convert Black and white to color, or mono to stereo flawlessly too, right? No, it can't because it's impossible. I'm sure a computer could guess what colors a black and white scene might have or which speaker mono sound would go to, but it can't do so accurately. It might produce a neat effect, but it will never, EVER get close to reality. Once you see the difference between the Avatar converted and the real 3d Blu-ray, whenever that comes out, you'll see. Most automatic 3d conversions, especially if done in real time, do little more than an emboss effect in photoshop, translated to a 3d image. Meaning, it might look 3d, but it's not realistic 3d.
I saw a Samsung 3DTV being demoed and it looked okay but there was very noticeable ghosting in the right eye of my glasses for some reason. Don't know if it was the glasses or the display.
I like 3D and I think 3D tech will stop being a novelty and will become a standard feature of TVs before too long. But I don't thing there is any reason to pay the silly sums of money these 1st gen sets are demanding for iffy implementations. Especially when there is no content to play on them.
I expect most people that actually see the 3D will be saying that while it's a cool thing to see, it's not something that they'll want to go out and buy just to have 3D, even if there is plenty of content.
i'm not a big fan of 3d its just not that cool to me and having to wear glasses overtop my regular glasses just seems obnoxious to me and for people who dont wear glasses i dont see how it would be all that enjoyable
When people see the ghosting in these initial 3D LCD sets (not present in the Panasonic plasma's btw) they aren't going to be pleased with the money they've spent.