Watched my first 3D film on a mate's 3DTV last week. I have got to say I was not at all impressed. Before this, the last time I saw anything in 3D was at the cinema when Halloween 3 was released (1982?). Back then it was quite exciting mainly because i was young and stupid. Now I am old and stupid but this was no better than what I saw back in 1982ish. The picture was fuzzy, the 3D was quite poor and we all looked pratts wearing sunglasses in January in Leeds.Sorry, I will give it a miss.

Originally Posted by Joe_Private

On the subject of HD projectors, I have one, and would recommend using a proper screen. At first glance that looks like good value for money, but be careful of the maximum picture sizes quoted by any manufacturer. Firstly, and probably quite obviously, the bigger the picture, the darker the picture. Secondly, there is a limited amount of zoom on all but the most expensive models, which in plain terms means that the size of the picture is pretty much governed by the distance the projector is from the screen - to fill my 2m wide screen my projector has to be over 5m away.

Joe - have you set this up right? "we" fill the opposite wall from a Sony 1080P projector, and its in a standard front room. Next time I'm there I'll measure the distance, but its only a few meters, and the wall is bigger than 2m!

Originally Posted by Mr_Deputy

have you seen the Tintin film? its only new technology and i am not bothered. i have a big telly and dont care too much for the odd glitch etc...character innit...its just that with Tintin, first time i could see what they were gettin' at, see?

'Twas one of the very films I saw, yeah it was a bit "sticky out" on the screen but there was no WOW look at that moment, or at any time did I feel the need to duck.

Originally Posted by tiny_lewis

Joe - have you set this up right? "we" fill the opposite wall from a Sony 1080P projector, and its in a standard front room. Next time I'm there I'll measure the distance, but its only a few meters, and the wall is bigger than 2m!

I'm relying totally on memory, and it's been a while since I've had the thing set up, so I could be a bit out with the figures, but the principle of having to place the screen and projector within an optimum separation band to achieve the maximum picture size the screen allows stands.

Originally Posted by leveller

3D is being slowly ditched by the main manufactures, Samsung, Sony etc. It's too expensive for the film and TV studios and it hasn't sold well.

The drive now is for Super HD, so expect to see 3D quietly shelved.

You're probably right with the 3D; although Avatar was a great film, I think the use of 3D was put to better use in the Terminator 3D attraction at USF - and that dates from the late 90's. To give an example:

In Avatar, 3D objects had a nasty - and hugely noticeable - habit of blinking out of existence, whilst still in peripheral view. Really noticeable during the tree scene with the "life-force blossom" stuff. In T3D, the effect was choreographed so the object drifted out of peripheral vision.

IMHO, this is due to directors unfamiliarity with the medium. It takes time to learn the craft of setting up the scenes and camera shots to not just maximise the 3D effect, but to blend it seamlessly into the viewing experience.

Of course that takes time, time = money. Hollywood see a cheaper shortcut: post-production 3D, which means they can avoid the expense of 3D camera systems, lengthy choreographing etc, and just "convert" to 3D. And the results look dire - the 2010 Resident Evil film , for example, with the shot of the plane flying over mountains.

But dont write it off yet. There are strides being made in glasses-free 3D. Early days, but they have SD resolution already.

SuperHD? Its there, but the industry isn't silly. Panny, Sony, etc all know that many people are not going to ditch their "new" flatscreens just yet, especially for a medium that will require a non-existent medium to take advantage of (BD is max 1920x1080, nowhere near 4K SHD).

The ''next thing' is going to be OLED display technology. The superior viewing experience of Plasma, the brightness levels of LCD, and the slim form factor and low power requirements of LED. I've seen OLED a few years ago, and it was jaw-dropping.

If you're undecided about 3D TV, watch the darts in 3D. When you watch the players from the "dartboard cam" they do appear to come out of the TV at you. Very strange the 1st time I saw it.

Saw the original "13 Ghosts" in "3D" back in the 60s. Bunch of us bagged the Saturday ice skating and went to the local fleapit instead. - of around 12 of us, only me and one of the girls could not see the 3D effect regardless of how hard we tried. I won't be buying a 3D TV anytime soon. Some of the theme parks over in Orlando have 3D shows, which (for me) have moments where the effects work, while my mrs is freaking out throughout the show. Different strokes ...

Originally Posted by re-stilly

I have sat through a couple of 3D films and I have seen no difference between them and the standard 2D ones. Am I the only mong on the bus or are there more people who just don't get it.

God, this is spooky. Late last year I went to see A Christmas Carol in 3D with a good mate. We came out and he said "that was no different to 2D".

A week later he was found in the street screaming and voiding his bowels. He was DOE on admision. We buried him in late December. A nice crisp day with breaking cloud cover. His Mum put on a lovely ham tea then we all fucked off down the pub and got ratted.

Hope this helps.

I would have guessed that the next natural progression would be a proper 'internet ready' TV - no, not just one you can watch YouTube and Lovefilm on - I mean one that will allow you to ditch the PC for good. I know the technology exists - I have seen it but only from small specialist manufacturers. The main players have ignored this, which I can only presume is a deliberate move to allow for the next 'upgrade'.

What's this HD 3D 2D HDMI Technicolour Flatscreen Supermarionation nonsense? We have a Sony cathode ray trinitron thingy as the Victorian Majorettes will have to put some serious weight on before they can pull it over.

The money we save goes on cinema trips and gin. Mostly gin.