Been to the movie theaters lately? Well then you probably have heard about Avatar, Piranha 3-D, Resident Evil: Afterlife 3D, Despicable Me, Saw 3D, Titanic 3D (yeah, they are bringing back Titanic in 3D), and so on. It’s pretty clear that 3D is the movie industry’s selling point right now, and people are actually buying into it. But are these people buying into the 3D experience at home? Not so much.
There are quite a few problems with making the transition from the big screen to the little one sitting in your living room. The first being the availability of three-dimensional content. There isn’t any (worth mentioning)! You can’t even watch Avatar, the movie that really started the whole craze, in 3D in your living room. It just seems somewhat disappointing when the best 3D movie out today refuses to make an appearance in your home (yet it will be making another run in movie theaters soon).
Next, there is the whole issue over those incredibly expensive and dorky looking 3D glasses. There is no set standard, and there is speculation that there won’t be one until a few years from now. This is a problem because if you want to purchase a new 3D television in the future, those 3D glasses might be incompatible and hundreds of dollars are flushed down the drain. As bad as that is, there is also the question of why we even have to wear 3D glasses? Oh wait. It’s because those 3D displays that don’t require the glasses will require an even longer wait. Sigh.
There is also the question over price. How much more are you willing to pay to experience a 3D movie? In movie theaters around where I live, 3D content comes at around a $3 – $5 premium. Considering most of this stuff is little more than a neat trick, I don’t feel the price increase is justified in many cases. Sure, Avatar was worth it, but does Despicable Me really offer that same experience? I’m not so sure. And I’m not so sure how much of a price increase it is going to translate into for home content.
But the 3D craze still goes on. It is just a question of will this craze ultimately end up as a in-home reality or fantasy.
You can read more about the problems that 3D faces in homes on CNN.
Hi James. I’d love to show you some really great clips of content that are being made for the 3D TV market. You are right in many ways to be frustrated. But, the progress of 3D is amazing. Each month, we are seeing advancements both in hard and software that make the future of high quality 3D bright. Digital Revolution Studios is a full service 3D production company. We partner with other great production teams that want to integrate stunningly realistic 3D content into their line-up. I think you will be pleased soon when the major networks start launching their 3D channels. There is some good content coming out!!
Gina Tanner
When you see that the “hot ticket” movies being released in the Fall include the likes of “Jackass-3D,” it’s really, hard not to surmise that this is a more-fluff-than-substance trend that has already jumped the shark.
It’s also worth mentioning that there have been warnings issued that 3D TV content may be unsafe for children, pregnant women, elderly, etc. due to the risk of experiencing symptoms ranging from dizziness to nausea to convulsions. These warnings may be mostly overblown legal butt-covering, but what responsible parent is going to risk their child’s health for the sake of this?
I got stuck at Titanic.
Seriously there hasn’t been one single 3D movie that was worth seeing in 3D recently. It’s all fluff and a way for them to extract an extra few bucks out of your pocket. I won’t be taking the family to see anymore. The home theater experience has been so much better and continues to get better. I rather invest the extra cash there.