Samsung Revolutionizes 3D!!!
Samsung 3D Glasses Now Included
In an effort to utterly revolutionize 3D television as we know it, Samsung, beginning on April 24, will provide not ONE, but TWO pairs of 3D active glasses for its entire 3D TV lineup. But... wait for it... they will do so at no additional cost to consumers who buy any 3D Samsung LED television. But what if you have a family of four... or five... or more? No problem, Samsung will make additional copies of their 2011 active 3D glasses (SSG-3100GB) for less than $50 per pair. These non-rechargeable 70-hour battery-powered glasses will be available starting on May 1, at which time a family of four can watch 3D for just $100 over the price fo the 3D LED TV itself.
What's that you say? Including a couple glasses won't revolutionize 3D? Oh. Sorry, then. Our bad.
It's just that this press release seemed to really get excited about itself, so we thought we'd jump in full force. For a while now we've been maing fun of the $400 cost of entry for most families, as well as the fact that 3D TVs typically don't come with any glasses. The question is whether or not including the glasses will really serve to generate more 3D TV sales. Those who purchase the Samsung D7000 and above 3D LED TVs or the D6500 and above 3D Plasma TVs will still get the company's 3D Starter Kit (SSG-3100M). These kits include a couple of active 3D glasses, the entire Shrek BD series in 3D and the 3D Blu-ray version of Megamind.
For more information on Samsung’s full line of 3D glasses and TV accessories, please visit http://www.samsungusanews.com/.
Want more Samsung TV info? Check out the company's new Facebook Page.
When will they realize not everyone got a huge 1600p monitor and don't need a card that can pull 1600p.
3D is being shoved into the consumer space, but it's still very much a work in progress. There isn't a panacea that combines all of the benefits of the various 3D technologies with none of the drawbacks.
The active glasses are just a no go for people. They are expensive, needed to be recharged or have the batteries changed, and just don't work well at all for people with prescription specs. The only reason we are getting them is that you can add 3D to any existing TV using active glasses without increasing the cost of the display.
If we move to passive glasses we run into a few problems. Because of the way passive technology works, you can't just add 3D to a display for free as easily. You can do what LG and Vizio are doing and show two 1080i frames at once. This causes you to loose about half the detail of the picture compared to a regular blu-ray though. The second option is to put an active shutter in the screen itself. The problem with this is that you increase the cost of the display substantially. It's much easier to sell the 3D TV when it's the same price as last years 2D TV.
The third option is to combine the showing of two frames at once with a 4K display. Instead of two 1080i frames you get two 2160i frames. This way you don't loose any detail. This comes with an added bonus as well. Even though your TV now costs more than the 2D model, you can sell it as being 4K. Even though the average screen size and viewing distance don't require 4K, we've learned from the megapixel and megahertz wars in the past that you can use a bigger number to sell more things.
Clint Deboer was terminated from Audioholics for misconduct on April 4th, 2014. He no longer represents Audioholics in any fashion.
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