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3D TV is a real eye-opener
Waterall's Euronics Centre on Hilderthorpe Road, Bridlington, was the first in the town to take delivery of a new batch of 3D HD televisions. The Free Press' Simon Messenger went to see if this futuristic technology is ready to take over the world ...
A LOT has changed in 3D entertainment.
I don't mean over the decades, I mean since last month when I went to watch some 3D football at my local.
Back then, in those halcyon days of May, I was surrounded in the busy bar by what looked like losing entrants in a Buddy Holly look-alike competition - because that's what the special 'polarizing' glasses given out to forward-thinking football fans were all modelled on.
It's undeniably a good look, but not, it turns out, the best way to view 3D broadcasts.
In the TV viewing room of Wateralls Electronics, I was presented with what were really just a slightly specialised kind of sports sunglasses, albeit the kind whose technological complexity was obvious, and that might be easily converted to provide X-ray vision by an evil genius.
The technology in them is as remarkable as that which powers the TV you look at.
There are two images overlaid on the TV screen, this copies how humans naturally see things - two slightly different images combined in the brain to give a sense of depth and the 'Display Sync' Glasses use liquid crystal shutters that flicker 60 times per second to alternate the image that our eyes receive, giving the impression of three dimensions.
There's plenty more to it than that I'm sure, but the real advantage that these glasses have over the cheaper "Buddy Holly" sort is that no picture quality is lost and the viewer is able to move around the room, close one eye, even turn upside down, and the image is just as clear as ever, not that you'd need to watch TV upside down.
So, with a paltry understanding of how it works, how does it look? And, more importantly, would I want to watch an evening's television on it?
Well, it looks good, very good in fact, the picture quality is excellent - as rich in colour and as sharp in image as any 2D television I have seen.
The short films I was shown on the imposing 50in screen didn't go in for gimmicks - there was nothing bursting out to frighten me - there were just simple shots of aquariums, scenic montages of Rome, sedate but intrinsically beautiful things.
And, as Dave Waterall, who runs the shop with his son Tom, told me, that's really what this new technology is all about.
He said: "It's not particularly about things jumping out of the screen at you, it's about a greater depth of field view."
And he's right.
The depth comes not from in front of the screen, as some old 3D movies gave the illusion of doing, but within the screen.
Rather than reeling back in your seat from invading images, you are inclined to lean forward, to enter into the visual depth.
For all that this is a clever trick, and ultimately a rewarding one, it is not perfect, however.
It has a slight pop-up book appearance.
There seems to be, for example, five or six distinct depths, each standing clearly in front of the other, in a not altogether natural way.
It's a minor issue, and probably one that is the result of the extraordinary crispness of the image, but it does mean that it takes a small amount of effort to watch the TV.
I found myself concentrating on the image, where otherwise - on 2D television - I am able to be a passive spectator.
The ability to relax completely is an important thing when watching TV, and, even if I was able to forget that I had spent the equivalent of five months' rent on a television, I doubt I'd feel entirely comfortable in the glasses which, although not in any way cumbersome, render lounging prostrate on the sofa difficult, I imagine.
3D entertainment was first shown to audiences in 1922 and is tantalisingly close to replacing 2D as the norm, with an increasing range of games and movies adopting the technology.
Sky's 3D channel launches later this year to coincide with the new football season and the 2012 Olympics are set to be shown in 3D.
3D Television is no longer a gimmick - it is not perfect, but it will be soon.
by Simon Messenger
Dave and Tom Waterall watching 3D Television (PA1023-4)
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