Posted on 04/15/2010 2:26:35 AM PDT by Las Vegas Dave
Washington, D.C. (April 14, 2010) -- Samsung has posted a warning on its Australian web site that watching 3D HDTV could be harmful to young children, pregnant women, the elderly and others, even the drunk.
The company apparently is reacting to reports that watching the reality-alerting images has left some people with headaches and a feeling of dizziness.
Samsung, which last month launched two 3D HDTV models in the U.S., says in the warning that "children and teenagers may be more susceptible to health issues associated with viewing in 3D and should be closely supervised when viewing these images."
But the notice adds that some viewers can experience an epileptic seizure or stroke when exposed to certain flashing images found in TV pictures.
Additionally, the company says, "pregnant women, the elderly, sufferers of serious medical conditions, those who are sleep deprived or under the influence of alcohol should avoid utilising the unit’s 3D functionality."
Samsung even counsels against wearing 3D goggles for an extended period of time.
"Watching TV while wearing 3D glasses for an extended period of time may cause a headache or fatigue. If you experience a headache, fatigue or dizziness, stop viewing TV and rest," the company warns.
It's unclear why Samsung has posted the health warning at its Australian site, but not on its U.S. site.
I was able to watch 3-D before I had Lasek. One eye is now for close, one eye for distance, and I have to use readers to see very close. Now I cannot stand to watch 3-D. My eyes and my brain can’t work to process the images. Won’t be watching or investing in it.
Well yeah. Here’s the dirty little secret the 3D folks don’t want people to think about: humans don’t actually see in 3D. Our eyes are generally too close together to get a 3D image, 2 eyes are more about redundancy than dimensional definition. We actually see primary in 2D much like a camera does, we have a focus depth and things outside that focus depth are out of focus. See the “whole world” (on TV, or in the theaters) in focus with all this additional definition is really unnatural for the eyes and the optic center of the brain and has to cause fatigue. It’s the primary reason I don’t do 3D, I already learned my eyes just plain don’t like it, my best case scenario is a slight headache, all the way to vomit inducing nausea.
There was a commercial in 3-D a couple of years ago during the Super Bowl. I picked up the cheesy paper 3.D viewers at a store and watched the commercial in 3-D.
The “new” TV’s for 3-D seems like a marketing scam more than a technical reality.
“It’s unclear why Samsung has posted the health warning at its Australian site, but not on its U.S. site.”
They are already hanging upside down in Australia, the 3D is too much for them.
I think it’s actually the movies and TV shows themselves which do that. :’)
Don't waste your money selling your nearly brand new high-def 2D equipment (you will lose money) and buying new "3D" equipment (it will cost you MORE MONEY, so you would lose twice).
First off; 3D is nothing but a FAD at this point, specifically designed by electronics manufacturers to create a new revenue stream and to get warm bodies into theaters, which with the success of Avatar, and Alice has taken place. Secondly and this is VERY important, 3D technology for home use is in it's infancy, I dare say embryonic phase at this point.
The 3D sets/equipment that will be sold are technologically primitive at best at this point. The manufacturers will charge a very hefty premium for this new 3D equipment and will use the early adopter/3D suckers as their "beta testing" Guinea Pigs. Over TIME these folks will find a lot of the flaws and problems that exist with this infant 3D tech because it will not work as promised. This is already evidenced by the EXTENSIVE warning lables on the Samsung "3D" TV's (never a good thing). They will complain as early adopters always do, the manufacturers will look at these complaints (along with those from the broadcasters who try to implement 3D for the masses) and make corrections. This process will repeat itself for around 8 to 15 years = 3 to 5 generations of 3D technology upgrades until the manufacturers finally get 3D working properly/to the satisfaction of the majority of people using it. Then (IF, and it is a huge "IF") 3D technology using GLASSES even takes off, a 3D quality "standard" will finally be established, the masses will buy into the system, prices will eventually come down BIG TIME! If you "MUST HAVE 3D", THAT IS THE TIME TO BUY... AFTER THE SUCKERS/Beta testers have spent their money working out ALL of the very real "kinks" inherent in 3D using glasses: I have already seen manufacturers trying to hawk phony "super deluxe" 3D glasses for $300!
Given all of the above factors, you are looking at 8 to 15 years before you should even begin to think about possibly jumping on the 3D band wagon. Why such a long, indefinite, indefinable time frame? Because no one has ANY IDEA what kind of problems are going present themselves, how quickly or slowly 3D will even develop, be adopted or if the whole 3D for home use format will be dead on arrival (a very real possibility given the fact that we are in a world-wide economic recession possibly bordering on a depression and people do not have money to waste on "new and improved" 3D equipment when they have perfectly fine and working 2D 1080p/ 1.3 HDMI high def equipment that they recently spent a fortune purchasing.
Forget about all of the ooh, aah 3D "hype" coming from the manufacturers! A person would have to be out of their mind to buy a 3D TV or 3D front projector this early in the game, and make no mistake it is a GAME designed by the electronics manufacturers to get the consumer to look with disdain on what these same folks had sold them on being the epitome/end all/be all in HD less than a year ago so that they will throw it all away to buy 3D.
At this stage of the game stay; away from 3D for home use like the plague!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My advice: Relax and enjoy your existing 1080p/1.3a HDMI high-def equipment. Save your money, think LONG-TERM and enjoy your existing new/nearly brand new equipment (given the economy, you want it to last a good 5 to 8 years).
Regarding 3D =
While I enjoyed the 3D technology used in Avatar, like millions of other consumers in America and around the world who have spent BILLIONS UPON BILLIONS of dollars recently upgrading our entire HD A/V theater systems so that they now meet the 1080p/1.3HDMI HD standard, I refuse to trash-can my new ONKYO PR-SC5507p pre-pro or our SONY BDP S550 Blu-ray player or SONY VPL-VW60 projector so that "the powers that be" can sell me UNPROVEN, NO SINGLE STANDARD, 3D technology that will need an entirely new UNPROVEN 1.4 HDMI format in order to view 3D content rendering nearly everything we own that is 1.3 HDMI useless.
I will let the early adopter "suckers" spend THEIR money beta testing this 3D technology. I will let THEM throw THEIR money down the toilet on a supposedly "new and improved," NO SINGLE STANDARD 3D = shutter glasses, non shutter glasses, polarized glasses, non polarized glasses, red and green glasses, non red and green glasses, and UNPROOVEN 1.4 HDMI format.
The upcoming 3D format wars (with millions of "early adopter" casualties left in it's wake with billions of dollars worth of now worthless technology they can't even sell on Craigslist when everything finally shakes out a decade from now) are going to make HD/Bluray fiasco look like a walk in the park.
Remember: SONY, ONKYO, Denon, Yamaha, etc... haven't even worked out all of the 1.3 HDMI "bugs" yet on gear they have already sold and they expect us to throw it ALL AWAY for an entirely new and unproven 1.4 HDMI format that they themselves will no longer support as soon as the "new and improved", equally untested 1.5 HDMI format comes along.
As for "3DTV"; just look at the existing poor "quality" of HD programming we are being fed by the likes of Comcast, DISH and Direct TV, etc. Many of the HD NFL play off games just broadcast were not sharp or crisp/very poor and appeared to be 720p at best. Broadcastes have already stated that 3D will not be broadcast in true HD:
"None of these broadcasts will be in high definition, by the way. A 3-D broadcast requires a lot more data than a regular HDTV channel; it won’t fit in the same bandwidth unless you sacrifice some picture information. As a result, 3-D cable, satellite and Web broadcasts will offer only half the resolution (clarity) of HDTV. Only Blu-ray players will produce full, hi-def 3-D images."
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/14/te...ZgBq4URqJQ+2cQ
People are not going to spend billions of dollars on new 3DTV's while HD broadcasters continually feed them lousy HD signals.
Is 3D cool? Yes, from a technological standpoint, Avatar in 3D is a game changer for theaters. However, ONCE A STANDARD IS FINALLY AGREED UPON (after this next bloody 3D "format war" is finally over which could take another decade), it will cost tens of thousands of dollars (if not more) to replace nearly all of a families existing AV equipment in order to even remotely begin to bring the quality of that 3D theater experience to the average persons home theater and unless people have their heads in the sand, we are in the midst of one of the severest economic downturns since the Great Depression.
As for me; someone feel free to contact me in about ten - fifteen years when the PROVEN, ONE-STANDARD, GLASS-LESS 3D is finally available at a reasonable price. Until then I will sit the 3D, 1.4abcd (1. whatever) HDMI format war out and be content and enjoy the incredible HD system I already have which is bought and paid for.
I can wait 10 - 15 years for this whole 3D mess to finally shake out because I and multitudes of Free Republic members are tired of being used as beta testers for an industry that continues to treat us like we are nothing but walking dollar signs that can be manipulated into throwing away our gear every 2-3 years for their latest fad. And yes, at this point 3D is just a fad.
In regard to replacing existing A/V gear simply in order to accommodate 3D:
Will I replace my 1080p front projector and A/V eqipment within 5-10 years? Probably, IF the improvement is substantially better than what I have now, which it isn't (much higher lumens, much sharper picture, LED lit, etc..., otherwise what is the point?) and I do not have to mortgage my house to do it. But I refuse to be led around by the nose and manipulated into blowing out perfectly outstanding A/V gear and becoming their free 3D beta tester by the latest A/V 3D FAD to come along.
One more thing; if anyone here on FR thinks they are going to even begin to have/reproduce the same 3D visual experience viewing AVATAR in your existing home theater using a cheap $3,000 TV that you had at the multi million dollar IMAX 3D theater in the near future or in the future without spending thousands, upon thousands of dollars, “upgrading” their equipment, there is a bridge in Brookline I can sell you real cheap.
As I said above: someone feel free to call me in 10 to 15 years when GLASSLESS 3D is fully developed and fully comes into it's own and those nasty "bugs" have been worked out and it is available at a reasonable price. Until then, have fun all you "early adopter, beta testing, Guinea Pigs". But before you take the 3D plunge, I would advise you to remember the lessons of the HD/Bluray format war when many of you lost small and large fortunes after the powers that be decided that HD was worthless and they pulled their entire support for the format in behalf of Bluray, after they had sold you all that stuff, leaving all of you suckers (in their eyes) holding the bag.
I can envision 3 to 8 years from now, the same thing taking place regarding 3D; many people sitting around, like they did with their HD DVD equipment and software, with utter dismay on their faces and anger, realizing they have been ”pawned once again” looking at all of their formerly “new and improved”, “latest 3D technology” equipment, and glasses that have suddenly been declared outdated and relegated to the dust bin by the electronics corporations who are ready to sell you on their latest fad.
They will have draws upon draws FULL of different kinds of 3D glasses: polarized, shutter, red, green, etc because there will not be just one way the “electronics powers that be” will decide upon for you to watch 3D… Why? “All the better to sell you stuff my dear.” There will be low end 3D glasses for the masses and then there will be high end, scam “videophile” 3D glasses that will cost you a fortune… this is already taking place with some 3D “super glasses” being marketed at $300! (Oh, joy, think MONSTER CABLES only for 3D glasses!). Most of this stuff purchased with your hard-earned money will end up in land fills or being blown out on Craigslist or garage sales for pennies on the dollar because they will say: "Those things are useless and no longer needed because this is the new and improved way we are going to do 3D from now on."
As for me, and others here on Free Republic who have seen this script/scam/game before; no thanks, we will sit this 3D FAD out (like many of us wisely did during the HD/Bluray format mess.) and when the war is all over (contrary to popular opinion, there will be a 3D war… which system shutter glasses/non shutter glasses/polarized/non polarized… etc, because their are BILLIONS of dollars at stake.) and things finally shake out, then and only then will we bite the bullet and upgrade our A/V equipment to accommodate 3D.
After posting the above on another web site I received the following, confirming what I have said:
“I've got 30 years behind me in the CE business, have written for a trade magazine for 7 years, and am what one would describe as an early adopter. I couldn't agree with you more. New tech is embraced by the marketplace when one of two things happen:
1) Consumers are forced into a change due to the retirement of an existing format, or:
2) There's a compelling case for the new format on its merits alone.
Neither is the case with 3DTV. It's cool to be sure, but no one but the manufacturers were clamoring for it. It's nothing but a profit recovery strategy at this point because virtually no one is making money on TV sets any more; making or selling them.
My guess is 3D will be most effective if used as a way for movie companies to keep people in the theatres, and I for one would stick to that. It would be a key differentiator between the theater and increasingly sophisticated home theater experience, a fact that will be increasingly more important as cinema ticket prices increase at the same time very big screen home theater hits true mass market price levels.”
I also recently talked to a friend who has been in the industry form many years and who sells and installs $100,000.00 to $500,000.00-plus home theater systems. I asked him what he thought of 3D for home theaters and home use and what kind of interest his high end market customers have in 3D. His answers were very telling:
"3D is nothing but a fad designed by the electronics industy to lift flat electronics sales and to create a new source of revenue." "Our high end customers have expressed no interest in 3D for their sophisticated home theater systems." "In order for 3D to be effective it is better viewed in a very low light or no-light (bat cave)environment. People do not like watching TV in the dark while having to wear glasses." "Stay away from 3D.... it is just a fad."
The above answers are important as to the future of 3D because if the rich (early adopters who still have money to burn on this 3D technology) are not interested and see 3D as nothing but a gimmick, then this 3D fad is destined to fail, no matter what kind of 3D hype and spin may be coming from the electronics manufacturers.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/2493379/posts?page=26#26
The above posting by Jmouse007 is worth a ping to the 375+ member HDTV ping list!
Great post Jmouse007!
I think it has about as much chance of success as LaserDisc.
They’ll come out with technology where you won’t have too. Its just a matter of time.
What different 3 D formats?
The way they make the glasses to decode the color alignment to make the 3D image. I would wait until they do it without glasses. I don’t think it will take them too long to get that done.
its not a fad. Its gonna be the future.
No, it has to do with whether you are right or left handed and if you have any un-house-trained Pekingese in the house.
Well I still own a LD player and movies and music videos that you can’t get in any other format.
That has nothing to do with “format” but with technology and please read my post 29
I still own Betamax, VHS, and Hi8 machines. And 3D is still not gonna succeed. :-)
They didn't post the warning to their U.S. site due to Obama's failing foreign policy which has made our nation a target of contempt, scorn and disgust by our former allies.
At least that's what they would say the pResident was a Republican.
http://www.techradar.com/news/television/panasonic-sells-out-us-3d-tv-allotment-in-a-week-677600
Sure it will
I have a long haired Maine Coon and a semi domesticated Wombat. Should I buy an HD TV or a crew serviced weapon? Presently, I only own two crew serviced weapons.
Bet you a buck that we can come back right here in two years and home 3D will be dead or at best a tiny niche product.
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