Sony 3D TVs to arrive in June

news.cnet.com/ ^ | 3-9-10 | Erica Org

[Justaham]

The battle for 3D in the home is officially on.

On Tuesday, the same day Samsung unveiled the pricing and availability of its new lineup of 3D TVs for the U.S., Sony revealed that its 3D sets will arrive June 10, at first in Japan and soon after in other regions. Rival Panasonic's first 3D TVs begin selling Wednesday in Best Buy stores in the U.S. LG's 3D lineup arrives in May, while Vizio's is set for August.

Sony's first model will have a 46-inch screen for 350,000 yen or $3,875. That's steep compared to the non-3D equivalent TV Sony already sells for $2,100, but it is new technology. Each set will come with two pairs of 3D glasses.

All three manufacturers have been trying to ride the hype and growing popularity of 3D movies in the theater. "Avatar 3D," the highest grossing movie ever, and the recently opened "Alice in Wonderland 3D," which had an impressive first-weekend box office take, show that people are interested in 3D movies. But the test will be if they want it in their homes.

Besides the fact that the sets are relatively expensive, there are currently limited options for watching 3D content at home. More 3D movies are arriving, along with 3D-capable Blu-ray Disc players, but broadcast and cable content are still in transition to 3D. Earlier this year, Sony announced partnerships with Discovery for a 3D TV network, and ESPN has plans to add a channel of 3D content sometime this year.

In the meantime, Sony is counting on video games to drive initial sales of 3D TVs. The company hopes its 3D-capable PlayStation 3, along with 3D titles, will prompt gamers to lay out some extra cash for an extra dimension to their games.

[a fool in paradise]

Helen Thomas in 3-D, just in time for Halloween!

[Hodar]

Somethings ‘good enough’ is all it takes.

A Mac totally rocks .... but Win7 is good enough
A iPod totally rocks .... sorry, the Zune still sucks

That said, with my PS3 and the Blu-Ray version of Aliens vs. Monsters - the 3D content with the red and blue gel glasses was ‘good enough’ for me.

Was it phenomional? Nope. Did I see 3D - yeah, was it seamless and flicker free? Yup ... for me, it was ‘good enough’.

I can’t see waiting for the PS3 software to update to I can rent/buy 3D media; then replace my perfectly functional LCD projector just for this gimmick.

[for-q-clinton]

It would be different if it were immersive. Plus Panasonic has one coming out this week I think so sony is a bit late.

Immersive 3D is a game changer. But viewing 3d is more of a distraction and gimmick. Yes even with avatar it was distracting to me because I had to where glasses and kept wanting to see what it looks like without the glasses. And then they start to irritate my ears becaus I don’t normally where glasses (especially cheap thinck plastic ones).

But if I could walk around in that environment or manipulate it in some way without the need to for bulky equipment...then you have a winner.

[billygoatgruff]

And later we will get the newest Japanese versions, 3-D sets that you cannot turn off, no matter what, EVER!!!

[BipolarBob]

So, is it time to replace my B&W 13 “ tv? Is that what they’re saying?

[Between the Lines]

Growing up we had cars and were told that when we grew up there would be flying cars... we had 3D movies and were told that we would have holographic movies ... we were earthbound and were told that we would have interplanetary tourism.

Now here we are... still driving cars, still watching 3D movies and still earthbound.

[Between the Lines]

WOW! 3D TV! Now if I could just buy a Toyota with fins I could relive my childhood.

[When do we get liberated?]

You can, it’s called “the real world” available in 3d every day! If you want to go without bulky equipment, it even works in the nude...

[dragnet2]

$3,875...With tax $5,000....lol

Each set will come with two pairs of 3D glasses.

Just what I need!

NOT!

[for-q-clinton]

Yeah but in the real world I can’t climb a mountain, drive a tank, be in Rio one minute and Alaska the next.

[for-q-clinton]

They needed to figure out what else they can put on the bluray disk to make it worth buying a disc based format.

7.1 sound isn’t really taking off and that appears to be the biggest thing on the discs. Instead of giving french, spanish, pig latin, etc... just stereo sound or sub-titles they are adding all the different languages sound tracks in 5.1 with the english in 7.1.

Well that may be nice if you want to watch in those other languages but it really doesn’t impact the consumer. They would just buy the localized version and get it in 5.1 or live with just stereo.

3D bluray is hoping to really drive bluray conversion. I’ll be honest. DVD is good enough. And I have a 110” screen and DVD is plenty good enough.

[Hodar]

3D bluray is hoping to really drive bluray conversion. I’ll be honest. DVD is good enough. And I have a 110” screen and DVD is plenty good enough.

Ditto, I have a 110 inch 1080P Panasonic projector; and with the upconverter that is basically built into every home theater receiver and/or the PS3; the difference between Blu-Ray and DVD is marginal at best.

The only movies where I see a distinct difference is in animation. Pixar's "Cars" and "Up", DreamWorks "Monsters vs. Aliens" all look noticable better in Blu-Ray. .... IMHO (your mileage may vary)

However, very few movies look distinctly better in Blu-Ray. I was personally disappointed in "Iron Man" as the quality of my upconverted DVD and the Blu-Ray version are practically indistingushable.

However, to be fair; the behind the scenes material on the latest 'Star Trek' was pretty entertaining on Blu-Ray.