Sampling the In-Home 3D Experience

Nobody's ready to cough up a set you can actually drag home from Best Buy and watch in 3D quite yet, but this year's show has plenty of demos.

It’s tough to buy into the 3D game when no one is selling, and this year that’s quite literally the case. Plenty of flash and pomp, zero commercial sets. So while I’m not sure we’ll ever all sit at home with wearing cheesy plastic goggles and watching football players spill out of the screen any time soon, it’s fun to check out the 3D concept sets various manufacturers have cooked up this year.

I had a chance to try out Sony’s 3D demo at the company’s booth, and despite my misgivings over previous examples of 3D tech, I was pleasantly surprised by how far it’s come. Colors pop out more than in previous examples that seemed to mute them dramatically, shapes retained crisp edges, and motion seemed as fluid as on any other type of television. The illusion of depth still feels solid, too, and although I only wore the glasses for only a few minutes, I didn’t notice much eyestrain either. Soccer players darted through the foreground of games, off-road vehicles bounced out of the set when they ran off road, and movie characters popped out of the screen.

Although Panasonic has put a strong spin on the immediate potential of 3D tech, Sony wasn’t nearly as optimistic. Reps at the booth repeatedly informed amazed onlookers that it was only a concept, Sony had no existing commitment to produce one, and that the company would let buyer demand determine what became of it.

So much for 3D this year. Fortunately, I think we can live without.