When I was 10 years old, my family took my younger brother and I to Disneyland. And even though I loved the rides and the people dressed up like cartoon characters, one of my favourite experiences there (at the time) was the 3D Michael Jackson movie. Before you judge me, this was back in 1990, and MJ was still considered to be more normal than not.
My point is that it seems like 3D TV has been one of those technologies that has been coming for a long time. Like virtual reality, it’s been promised for years, with nobody actually delivering the goods.
Until now, that is. Samsung has just announced that their new 3D plasma TV model is on sale in Australia. The 450 Series not only plays back 3D-specific content, but also features some tech inside to create a pseudo-3D effect from a 2D source.
The virtual 3D technology was created by Australian company DDD (based in Perth). They’ve signed a bit of an exclusive arrangement with Samsung to develop the tech for the 450 series. Not having seen it in action, I can’t vouch for its performance, but seeing as how it’s an Aussie company, it can’t all be bad.
It all sounds pretty good, doesn’t it? Until you read the footnotes of the press release, that is. The 3D elements of the TV require 3D glasses (which makes sense), but also a PC with: Intel® Core 2 Duo or Athlon™ 64 X2 Dual-Core CPU, 1GB RAM, NVIDIA® GeForce 6600 or ATI Radeon™ X800 or better, with a DVI or HDMI output, 100MB free disk space, Windows® XP, Vista (32Bit), DirectX 9.0c compatible sound card, Internet connection, Network card, DVD-ROM drive and a compatible DVD decoder (such as WinDVD). Not a problem for Media Center owners, I guess, but for everyone else, that’s a big price to add on to the cost of the TV.
The 450 Series plasma is available in both 42 and 50 inch screen sizes for $1,899 and $2,529 respectively. Now all we need is some 3D content…
[Samsung]