3D or Not to 3D, That is the Question
3D movies are making a comeback, as evidenced by the amazing box office success of James Cameron's 20th Century Fox release, Avatar. Now manufacturers of consumer electronics, like Samsung, are starting to introduce new products that are "3D ready."
To watch a 3D movie at home, you need a new 3D-capable TV, a 3D Blu-ray player, a 3D Blu-ray disc and a pair of new 3D glasses. The new 3D glasses are different from the old ones you may remember. Instead of using polaroid lenses with two different colored filters, the new technology employs electronic "shutters" that rapidly open and close at a high frequency (240 Hz) to dynamically reveal specially produced images projected from the TV screen. The effect is literally "eye popping" and it can really add to the experience for those who want more stimulation from their home movie watching.
For others it may be a little overstimulating. Some viewers have reported minor headaches after watching a full-length feature film in 3D, likely due to the extra work required by the eyes and the brain to process all the extra data. Some people may not really enjoy the higher degree of stimulation, opting instead for a more relaxed viewing experience. Not quite as bad as Max Headroom's "blipverts", but for some it may feel like a head explosion.
Yahoo recently released a pretty good summary of 3D TV written by Consumer Reports (7 Things You Need to Know about 3D TV). Aside from the obvious benefits of 3D, you may want to consider other factors. One potential problem is that if you are showing a movie in 3D, everyone in the room needs to watch it in 3D with glasses on. Without the glasses the picture will appear as a blur. And one should not expect visitors to have their own glasses, so you'll need to keep a few extra pairs on hand for group gatherings.
As of now, the only content available in 3D comes on Blu-ray discs (not yet Avatar). But the cable and satellite service providers can't be too far away from broadcasting 3D shows, especially sports and movies. As of this posting, there are two Samsung LED models shipping with 3D, a 55" and a 46" that sell for $3,299 and $2,599 respectively, or about $500-800 more than the closest non-3D models. So if you're planning to buy a new TV anytime soon, and you think you may want to have the option of watching 3D over the next couple years, it may be worth laying out the extra bucks now to buy a 3D TV.
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