3D That I Can Endorse… sort of

If you have listened to any of our AVNation podcasts you may have gotten the impression that I do not have much need for 3D. You would be correct. Up until this point in time 3D has seemed more of a gimmick than an actual, functional, spec. That is until now.
A few weeks ago my friend George Tucker and I produced a 4K special for the fine folks at CE Pro. (Check it out here). It was great fun and a good primer for what looks to be the year of 4K/UHD. During the recording one of the guests suggested that 4K would give 3D new life. Explaining, in 4K 3D what you have is 3D in 1080p. Well… okay then. That is something worth shouting about, as my grandmother used to say.
This does not take away from the difficulties of glassess, or people with certain eye problems not being able to see 3D, but it gives it some legs. Then in the midst of all the CES press coming down this little article comes across my desk from Slash Gear. An Ultra HD Glassess Free 3D. Let me say write that again. An Ultra HD Glassess Free 3D. That’s enough to make your head spin. So, auto-stereoscopic 4K? Now we’re talking.

In the ad copy for the display it says “True 3D should be like looking out through a window.” I would agree, and is where my biggest issue with 3D has been since watching the creature from the Black Lagoon thirty years ago. Shouldn’t 3D be as realistic as possible? I certainly think so. This does not mean that I will be first in line to purchase this new product from Stream TV, but I would be interested to see it in person. Since I’m not in Vegas for this year’s CES I will have to wait and see if Stream TV makes it to InfoComm 2013 or maybe CEDIA this year. In the meantime, I have backed away from saying “no 3D ever” and have moved to saying “3D in 4K? We’ll at least give it a shot.”