Toshiba Shows Huge Glasses-Free 3D TVs Playing Final Fantasy XIII

Greg Tito

PR for Dungeons & Dragons
Sep 29, 2005
12,070
0
0
Toshiba Shows Huge Glasses-Free 3D TVs Playing Final Fantasy XIII



Everybody thought that big screen TVs showing true 3D without the aid of glasses was a pipe dream until Toshiba showed off its sets at CES.

It couldn't be done, skeptics said. Producing 3D images without wearing silly-looking and most likely heavy glasses was limited to a single viewer or small screens. That will work with devices like Nintendo's forthcoming 3DS, but no one thought that TVs using autostereoscopic technology would replace the big ass TV in your living room any time soon. When Japanese electronics manufacturer Toshiba said at last year's Consumer Electronics Show that it would soon bring glasses-free 3D to its bigger screens, people laughed it off. This year in Las Vegas though, Toshiba presented prototypes 56-inch and 65-inch playing the cinematics from Final Fantasy XIII. Toshiba already sells 12" and 20" version of the technology in Japan, and it plans to release two bigger models worldwide by the end of its fiscal year, which could be as late as early 2012. Atsushi Murasawa from Toshiba couldn't confirm prices or release dates but did say that he hopes to grab a 10 percent share of the U.S. market with these TVs.

I've been on the fence about the whole 3D thing. The net gain of my entertainment value that 3D provides is probably less than nil. When it's handled badly, it kind of sucks the life out of a film (or a game I suppose but I haven't had prolonged exposure to 3D gaming yet.) And when 3D is actually well done as in Avatar, it doesn't add enough to justify the cost and annoyance. I saw Tron: Legacy in 3D and I couldn't honestly tell you why it mattered.

But the biggest block against people running out for a brand new 3D TV - aside from the fact that we all dropped a buttload upgrading to HD not too long ago - is the need to wear the damn glasses. If Toshiba's tech proves to be as great as it seems to be, then perhaps it will change the paradigm and more people will be switching to 3D.

What do you think? Does the glasses-free big screen TVs from Toshiba sway you into the 3D camp? If you had the money, would you consider buying one over a TV from, say, Sony that made you wear glasses?

Source: Reuters [http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/05/toshiba-to-sell-big-screen-glasses-free-3d-hdtvs-in-2011/]

Permalink
 

Baby Tea

Just Ask Frankie
Sep 18, 2008
4,687
0
0
Now THAT is what I'm talking about.
Let the early adopters grab it, and I'll grab one when it's cheaper.

But the losing the glasses was completely essential for my interest in 3D to go beyond 'Meh'.
Once it's cost effective, and/or my TV dies, sign me up.
 

New Troll

New member
Mar 26, 2009
2,984
0
0
I definitely could be swayed to buy a glasses-free 3D set. The main reason I'm not into 3D at all right now is because the glasses give me migraines. Of course I still wouldn't be one of the first ones to waste way too much on one, but if the price was right...
 

Defense

New member
Oct 20, 2010
870
0
0
That looks like Final Fantasy XIII to me.

And I don't find myself ever buying a 3DTV at current prices. It's so horribly expensive and I doubt it would offer an experience worth the money. Maybe if my current TV breaks I'd go for a 3DTV, but even then I would probably get a regular HDTV.
 

DarkRyter

New member
Dec 15, 2008
3,077
0
0
Well, it is true I kinda hate 3d for making wear double glasses and look like an idiot.

Now, I can wear single glasses, and look like an idiot for other reasons.
 

dannymc18

New member
Dec 15, 2009
75
0
0
I haven't gone 3D as I bought a 32" LCD last year (well, 2 years now I s'pose), I've been waiting for prices to drop, and I've been waiting for the auto-3D to finally be cracked. Something like this does make sense for my next TV, but that will not be for another while yet, by which time there should be a variety of models at a variety of prices. Until then, however...
 

Gildan Bladeborn

New member
Aug 11, 2009
3,044
0
0
There was never any conceivable way I would be buying a 3D television that required me to wear those damn glasses, as I've always perceived 3D as a gimmick and requiring expensive and obnoxious/obtrusive peripherals to render the television simply watchable is just right out.

Technology like this though? I still think 3D is a gimmick, but if I was actually in the market for a new television and a set like this was available at a relatively reasonable price, why wouldn't I pick one up? It may still be a gimmick, but now it's one I don't have to wear stupid glasses to experience, and the entire experience would only be heightened by how the very existence of this sort of tech is giving Sony the metaphorical equivalent of a giant upraised middle finger, which is great for me because I think Sony is a company run by jackasses (their Kevin Butler ad campaign for the PS3 is perhaps the only bright spot) and they have it coming; the notion that they might very well have spent a colossal amount of time and money working on a technological dead-end is just pure delicious karmic payback for some of the more odious crap they've pulled over the years.

So yeah, a 3D television that doesn't require glasses is exactly the sort of technology I can get behind - now to wait until they cost less than the life of your firstborn child to purchase and the bugs are ironed out, and I'll be all set!
 

Fr]anc[is

New member
May 13, 2010
1,893
0
0
I saw Tron in 3D too. Didn't really matter. At least there wasn't a LOOK 3D!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! moment
 

sunburst

Media Snob
Mar 19, 2010
666
0
0
Tipsy Giant said:
and this is why the clever consumers didn't buy a stupid tv that needed glasses
I hadn't thought of that. This is pretty much the most screwed early adopters have ever been. That would usually include me, but not this time. Thank god I thought 3D was a massive waste of effort. I'm starting to change my mind but only a little. I wonder how good these new ones look. It's completely impossible to tell unless you see it in person, but if they're nice then I'll probably get one for my next TV in a year or so.

harblargl said:
It isn't glasses free. It's active glasses free, like the cinema experience.
You are incorrect. It's angle-restricted with facial recognition to turn on the 3D on when you're in the proper viewing position.
 

Numachuka

New member
Sep 3, 2010
385
0
0
harblargl said:
It isn't glasses free. It's active glasses free, like the cinema experience.
Toshiba Shows Huge Glasses-Free 3D TVs Playing Final Fantasy XIII



I'm sorry you've lost me.
 
Sep 14, 2009
9,073
0
0
hmm...i'd have to see the glasses 3D tv in person myself to really belive its quality, but hey that screenshot looks pretty schnazzy.

in 4-5 years i may pick one up, if its cheap and games/movies adapt to this. but for now i have my amazingly wonderful led lcd 32 inch that i can do everything on.
 

SomebodyNowhere

New member
Dec 9, 2009
989
0
0
While I'm interested in the concept of glasses free 3D, I just can't see getting one of these TVs anytime soon, but this is coming from a person that still doesn't have a high definition TV(I've been meaning to upgrade, but don't watch much TV anymore).
 

Delusibeta

Reachin' out...
Mar 7, 2010
2,594
0
0
Well, that was quick. It's been, what? Six months? Since 3DTVs starting to retail here, and now glasses-free 3DTVs are being prototyped in silly sizes.