Sony will announce today that it is aiming to put 3D televisions in homes by the end of 2010.
Sir Howard Stringer, its chief executive, is due to announce that consumers will be able to buy 3D Bravia television sets, Vaio laptops, Playstation3 games consoles and Blu-Ray disc players that are compatible with 3D technology.
It will be an important boost for the 3D industry, which until now has concentrated on enhancing the cinema screen experience.
Sir Howard will tell a technology trade show in Berlin: “3D is clearly on its way to the mass market. As with high-definition a few years back, there are a variety of issues yet to be addressed. But the 3D train is on the track and we at Sony are ready to drive it home.”
Sony 3D TV
The burgeoning 3D market is poised to revolutionise the consumer electronics industry. British Sky Broadcasting has already announced plans to introduce a 3D satellite channel in the UK next year.
Avatar, the new sci-fi epic by James Cameron, who directed Terminator and Titanic, uses the latest 3D technology. The film, which reportedly cost £180 million to make and is due to be released here in December, is one of the most eagerly anticipated films in years and is expected to take more than $1 billion at the box office, largely because of the new technology.
- Similar posts
- UK Freeview users must retune boxes (28.4%)
- Nintendo DS 3D announced (28.4%)
- Microsoft reduce the Xbox 360 by £100 (24.1%)
- Project Natal - controller-free gaming system (24.1%)
- Uk's first 3D TV channel next year (19%)
Scientists have warned that 3D TV can disorientate the brain, causing eye strain, headaches, nausea and sickness.
And the closer you are to the screen, the worse you feel, making TVs more problematic than cinema screens.
Studies show that in up to 20 per cent of viewers it could even induce physical sickness.
In one experiment, researchers at Eindhoven University in the Netherlands asked 39 people who could see 3D to read some text on a screen from 10 feet away.
Seven of the group suffered symptoms that can lead to nausea, including double vision and eye strain, reports New Scientist.
“You cannot damage your eyes by watching [in 3D], but if you spend an excessive period of time doing so, you may get a slight headache because of eye strain,” the Daily Mail quoted John Lee, President of The Royal College of Ophthalmologists, as saying in a interview.
Toshiba has unveiled the world’s first 3D television set that does not require special glasses – a recurring consumer complaint about the technology. It is expected to go on sale in Japan in December.
Toshiba hopes this will be the breakthrough that brings high-definition liquid crystal display 3D TV to the market, though many consumers might be put off by the fact that they’ll have to be very close to the screen for the 3D effect to really work — not to mention the steep price tag.
Electronics and entertainment companies around the world are banking on 3D to fuel a new boom in TV, movies and games, reports the Daily Mail. Most 3D TVs on the market today rely on glasses to deliver separate images to each eye, which creates a sense of three-dimensional depth.
In its new TVs, Toshiba uses a ‘perpendicular lenticular sheet’, comprising an array of small lenses that direct light from the display to nine points in front of the TV. If a viewer is sitting within the optimal viewing zone, the brain integrates these points into a single 3D image.
“The result is a precise rendering of high-quality 3D images whatever the viewing angle within the viewing zone,” Toshiba said.
The system is similar to what’s used in Nintendo’s 3DS, the company’s highly anticipated hand-held device that features glasses-free 3D gaming.
Toshiba will offer two sizes – 12 inches and 20 inches. The technology is not advanced enough yet to integrate into larger screens.
The TVs will go on sale in Japan in late December, Toshiba said. The smaller version will cost about 120,000 yen (GBP 912), and the larger one will be double that price.
The company did not release details on overseas availability.