Checked out the Panasonic 50″ Viera 3-D TV Today
Checked out the new Panasonic 50" Viera 3-D Ready TV today at my local Best Buy at The Rim(Best Buy's Panasonic Link). The video was ultra crisp even more so than most IMAX or at least it seemed that way. The 3-D glasses they give you look really cool and fit me well but they were a bit distracting. The frames of the glasses kept taking me out of the experience though, granted I was about 3 feet from the screen so maybe that was part of the problem.
Either way I really liked the way the 3-D looked and if I was in the market to buy a TV I would have been really really tempted to purchase it right then and there (I like shiny new objects). If you're in the market to buy a TV and are considering buying a 3-D TV (and it's my opinion you should really consider it, especially if you are going to invest a lot of money) here are some details you may find informative.
- Most 3-D Ready TV's only come with one set of 3-D glasses. You'll have to purchase a separate pair for each person who will be watching. The glasses that work with the Panasonic I was watching cost $150 a pop. So if you have a family of 4 you'd have to buy 3 additional glasses totaling $450 (kinda pricey if you accidentally sit on them too).
- If you want to watch your own or rented 3-D movies you're going to need a 3-D Blu-Ray player which will run about $300. There is really nothing on TV now that is broadcast in 3-D BUT DirectTV announced earlier this year that they would be rolling out 3 separate 3D networks sometime in June and there are mumblings about Netflix supporting 3D Blu-ray and possibly streaming out 3D online via the console systems.
- Some manufacturers will be bundling items together to make it cheaper and therefore more appealing to buy an entire systems. This way you won't have to buy the TV, extra glasses, Blu-Ray movie and Blu-Ray player separately. (I asked the Best Buy associate about the bundles and he said they were not currently offering any on the 50" but would be on the larger model coming in, in the near future, that being said it was the first day they actually had a set on the floor so this may change.)
Some final thoughts:
Even though it's awesome shiny new tech I'm hesitant to say "Go Out and Buy Yourself a 3-D TV!" simply because there are some serious kinks. The main one for me is the glasses. $150 glasses are REALLY expensive. If you have a habit of sitting on things or you have kids who occasionally break things this can become a big deal. The industry needs to seriously lower the price on glasses, AND create a standard if they haven't already for glasses. So, let's say I want to go over to my friends house who has a 3-D Samsung display and I have Panasonic glasses or for that matter a generic 3rd party pair, they'll universally work. Glasses priced at $20-$30 for a base pair I think would be more reasonable (this will inevitably happen with time I'm sure).
I'll probably wait another year or so before I take the plunge unless, God forbid, my current TV explodes. That way prices will come down, there will be a bit more standardization, more consumable content and all the technical kinks should be worked out. Until then, I'm craving some 3-D tech!
SXSW 2010
Just received the SXSW Press Credentials confirmation e-mail today for the 210TV team. It was quite a mission to secure, more so than E3 and CES combined. We secured platinum press passes but it seems like they want us to actually pay for them and they aren't exactly cheap. At almost $1,000 each pass with 7 people going, that's definitely NOT in the budget. Maybe I read incorrectly, E3 and CES never have charged press as far as I know and they're much more well known. We'll see, they still have to send me some other forms to finalize our credentials.
Hello there!
Been thinking about blogging for a while. I've got a lot going on like be a brand new dad, so expect my posts to be brief. Hopefully this little blog will grow up to be big some day. =)
