The banners were hung from the show booths with care,
With hopes that 3-D soon would be there.
Promising to reach out and touch someone, or everyone if all goes to plan, Blu-ray 3D made its official debut at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week. Showing strong support for the burgeoning format, a surprising number of the industry's heaviest hitters had 3-D Blu-ray Disc players on display while promising retail delivery before year end, if not much sooner.
Among the players on display were Panasonic's DMP-BDT350, Samsung's BD-C6900, Toshiba's BDX-3000 and Sony's BDP-S770. Sony also indicated that their Playstation 3 (PS3) gaming console will soon receive an update making it 3D-compatible.
One source of confusion on the show floor was the technical requirements necessary to take full advantage of the new Blu-ray 3D Disc format. Obviously consumers will need to don a pair a spiffy 3-D glasses - that much is certain (at least for now). However, a 3D-compatible HDTV will also be required to watch Blu-ray 3D content such as Sony's upcoming Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Dreamworks' Monsters vs Aliens and, of course, the killer app of the show) Avatar when it makes its Blu-ray 3D debut.
Hoping to sell consumers on the package deal, most of the Blu-ray 3D player makers were also showing off new 3D-compatible HDTVs. These displays will feature HDMI v1.4 connectivity, another requirement of the Blu-ray 3-D specification, as recently decided by the Blu-ray Disc Association. (NOTE: Sony's upcoming 3D update for the PS3 would seem to contradict the necessity of HDMI v1.4, so watch this space for more information as it comes in.)
For consumers worried about backwards compatibility with their existing displays and receivers, it should be noted 3-D BD players such as Panasonic's BDT350 feature dual HDMI outputs: one for HDMI v1.3 and one for HDMI v1.4. Non-3D displays would use the HDMI 1.3 connection option. This output is also capable of passing HDMI audio such as multi-channel PCM, Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio to current HDMI-equipped receivers and preamp/processors.
It remains to be seen whether or not consumers will gravitate to the third dimension. Having seen numerous demos at CES this week, I'm not yet sold. That said, it's hard to dispute the fact that Blu-ray 3D is, if nothing else, an interesting curiousity that is only now taking its first steps towards mainstream viability.
Where to Buy:
(note: 3D-enabled models are not available for pre-order as of the posting of this article, but will be later in the year)
More CES 2010 Coverage Live from Las Vegas:
