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Sony keen on stereoscopic 3D

Published on 4th September 2009 by Joe Martin

Sony's Sir Howard Stringer reckons that stereoscopic 3D is heading to the mass market very soon.

Sony boss Sir Howard Stringer reckons that stereoscopic 3D is going to be The Next Big Thing and will quickly find a way to the mass market, so has voiced a desire to make the majority of Sony product lines compatible with the technology.

Preparing to give a speech at IFA in Berlin, Stringer is expected to announce stereoscopic compatibility for the PS3, Sony Blu-ray players and VAIO laptops by the end of next year, according to the Financial Times.

It's also expected that the Sony 3DTVs will make use of an 'active shutter' technology that uses tiny shutters within the 3D glasses that will open and close in time with the TV refreshes, rather than the standard polarisation method which most manufacturers use - a divide the FT compares to the HD-DVD and Blu-Ray format war.

If the announcement goes ahead then Sony will join the likes of Samsung and Mitsubishi, both of whom already have a range of 3DTVs available. The PC isn't left out of all this either, with Nvidia taking a revitalised interest in the technology with it's 3DVision range. We've had an in-depth look at how 3DVision works, but suffice it to say that it looks really cool in games like Batman: Arkham Asylum, which has been specially tailored for the system.

The PlayStation 3 is likewise already capable of creating stereoscopic images, but just like on the PC you'll need a TV capable of 120Hz to actually be able to see it.

Think stereoscopic 3D is going to be big, or just a mighty flop? Let us know your thoughts in the forums.

10 Comments

Discuss in the forums Reply

Sifter3000 4th September 2009, 11:11

Another brilliant idea there, to go with UMD, MiniDisc, the fact there's no PSP Phone...

oh...

wait.

jezmck 4th September 2009, 11:23

Does that mean I will have to wait even longer before buying my next TV?

Dave Lister 4th September 2009, 11:44

It sounds like 3D will take off this time because there are so many backing it like the games industry, hollywood, electronics manafacturers. I think it will be a bit slow starting off because of the reccesion and the high price for compatible hardware at the moment. But for me it is looking very likely now, more than any other time i can remember... and i can remember back to the early 80's when one of the Jaws films was broadcast in "3D" !

mikeuk2004 4th September 2009, 12:20

this will be cool if they pull it off

Almightyrastus 4th September 2009, 13:17

This is going to mean nothing to me unless I can wear my prescription glasses at the same time, i have a hard enough reading newsprint without them let alone seeing a tv on the other side fo the room clearly.

papalarge123 4th September 2009, 17:03

well u never know, we do have reaction lenses and perscription sunglasses, so there may be a pescription opertunity for these babies, lol

devdevil85 4th September 2009, 17:34

I honestly can't wait for this. 3D is going to be awesome!

sandys 4th September 2009, 19:12

Reactions have already been pretty good to demos of this, they have demod Wipeout HD, GT5 and Motorstorm in 3D at what was is CES or E3 earlier in the year.

So long as I don't get headaches like with the twin coloured lens i'm in, new TV and all, this plus Sonys motion controller could be quite interesting combo.

Evildead666 5th September 2009, 10:10

Too expensive. Too niche.
The Cinema's are doing more and more 3D to try and attract more customers, and to actually have a point of going to the cinema...

Get a big screen to go for home, and leave the 3D to the cinema's.

When the screens are small enough to be placed just in front of the eye, then that will be fine.
Two small hi-res screens, and full virtual reality.
Or one curved screen like those old 80's sunglasses....with a pyramid filter so both eyes see different images...

And it still won't make crap games good.

Mentai 6th September 2009, 08:48

Too high an entry point. No one has a 120Hz LCD monitor for Nvidias 3d vision and even if they did they would need to adjust their setup to reduce interference. For example, I have no idea how to turn the lights off on my razer keyboard and they would induce flickering.

It will be even worse for TV's. That's a non tech savvy market, and having a much more expensive tv that essentially looks the same as a cheaper one won't work. A lot of people still don't know the difference between 720p and 1080p, and if buying a 42" tv, they are simply buying the cheapest 42" tv, just wanting something big. Then they hook up their consoles using composite cables instead of hdmi etc. This is an investment I don't think will pay off.