Warning: 3D May Be Hazardous to Your Health

[wettou]

Warning: 3D May Be Hazardous to Your Health
Samsung delivers precautions to viewers who may be photosensitive, pregnant, tipsy, prone to seizures and more.


Warning: 3D May Be Hazardous to Your Health

People are gaga over 3D TV these days, but it may not be all fun and games for everyone. Display manufacturer Samsung, which recently began shipping its new 3D HDTVs, has posted a medical warning on its website, “Viewing TV Using the 3D Function” (PDF link) to read before you or your child watch 3D.

According to the safety information, for example, “Pregnant women, the elderly, sufferers of serious medical conditions, those who are sleep deprived or under the influence of alcohol should avoid utilising the unit’s 3D functionality.” So you may not want to fill your eyes with that double vision and 3D vision, to paraphrase Foreigner.

The initial warning from Samsung states: “Children and teenagers may be more susceptible to health issues associated with viewing in 3D and should be closely supervised when viewing these images.”

If you’ve ever been through a 3D demonstration, it’s easy to see why Samsung (and presumably other manufacturers that may post similar warnings) wants to ensure it has covered its bases and offered such safety information. Slipping on 3D glasses, plus the initial vision immediately after taking them off, can be rather uncomfortable or headache-inducing if you’re not used to it. I know a demo from Mitsubishi a couple of years ago, while very cool to see, left me a tad queasy afterward.

The ramifications can be very serious. Under the “Photosensitive Seizure Warning and Other Health Risks” section, Samsung points to those who have history of epileptic seizure or stroke when exposed to flashing images or lights, to consult a doctor before using 3D.

Other symptoms to keep in mind that you may experience, notes Samsung, include:

• altered vision
• lightheadedness
• dizziness
• involuntary movements such as eye or muscle twitching
• confusion
• nausea
• loss of awareness
• convulsions
• cramps
• disorientation

Especially on that last symptom, Samsung advises: “Accordingly, DO NOT place your TV near open stairwells, cables, balconies, or other objects that can be tripped over, run into, knocked down, broken or fallen over.”

Other than all of that, you’re good to go. Samsung made no warnings about letting your kids watch Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience, so that’s on you.

[wettou]

10 Reasons 3D Might Fail

10 Reasons 3D Might Fail


Will consumers buy into a 3D experience at home?



Will we all watch 3D TV in the future, or will it remain a niche product meant for science fiction movies, video games, or special sporting events?

As we’ve seen with the breakout success of “Avatar,” there is definitely consumer willingness to enjoy 3D at the movies. But it is still an open question whether consumers will buy a 3D experience for the home.

Here are ten reasons why in-home 3D TV may never achieve mass market appeal.

Glasses - Need I say more. Who wants to buy them, keep track of them, or even wear them? Are you eager to wear geeky 3D glasses and sit silently in front of a TV in a darkened room every night?

TV Watching is Social - Home TV watching is, in many ways, a social experience. You watch with your family or friends with the lights on. You may talk about the show or something else. Multitaskers may even be on the Internet, chatting, tweeting or texting from their phone. 3D viewing abruptly alters the social nature of TV watching.

Compatibility - Think the brand new flat-panel TV you bought recently will show 3D? Think again. You will need to upgrade just about everything, including the cables.

Lack of content - Even if you are fortunate enough to buy a 3D TV when they first come out, along with a 3D Blu-ray player, you won’t have much to watch. Even if you could watch more, what do you really have to watch in 3D?

Confusion - 3D adds a new layer of complexity to the already complicated TV, satellite/cable, DVD player hook-up process. New technical 3D jargon will further confuse consumers. There are currently different ways to capture and display 3D, which can require different types of glasses and/or equipment. Confused yet? So am I.

Health risks - 3D viewing can induce headaches, disorientation, nausea, or eye-strain for some people. 3D tricks the brain and puts your eyes through a serious workout. Nobody knows yet, since there have been no major studies what, if any, long-term effects extensive 3D watching may cause.

Unwatchable 3D Footage - 3D video is unwatchable without special glasses. If you were told right now your TV would only work if you wore special glasses, how many of those TVs do you think would sell? It’s the same question consumers will answer with their purse strings.

Just-Good-enough Syndrome - This is not a disease, but many people are quite happy with their new flat-panel TV purchase of recent years. At the same time, everything is not yet broadcast in full HD, and the majority are still happy with regular DVD quality. Even the Blu-ray market has yet to take off. Convincing consumers to adopt a new format may be a tough sell.

Discs are dying - No funerals please. With improved streaming capabilities and greater digital home storage, inevitably discs will be replaced with on-demand streaming. It may take another decade, but how we consume media will likely not include discs. This isn’t necessarily bad for 3D, but it takes 2-4 times more storage and greater download speeds to stream 3D. Bandwidth limitations are likely to be an issue.

History Lessons - Bringing sweeping change to home TV watching takes time, a very long time. It took HDTV about 20 years to achieve market dominance with the help of a government mandate. For better or worse, I don’t expect government involvement this time. The electronics and entertainment industries will have their work cut out for them.

[aud19]

Yeah I'm a little iffy on the whole 3d thing. I especially don't think the whole having to wear glasses thing is terribly practical.

One issue that wasn't mentioned was say you have guests over and don't have enough glasses for everyone? You're having a Superbowl party and only half your guests get to watch the 3d game...? Th rest have the pleasure of watching a blurry mess... Neat concept but the execution needs some work IMO.

[numberoneoppa]

My girlfriend had to wear the 3D glasses the theater gave her upside-down because her Korean nose is too small to support the design of the large 3D glasses. Alternatives: make sure she remembers to bring her custom 3D glasses to the movies, or skipping out on 3D.

In any case, 3D is kind of fun - sometimes. Does anybody notice how the 3D forces you to pay attention to a particular part of the scene and how it's harder to focus on anything not in the immediate foreground? That somewhat upsets me.

aud19's point about the party with half the guests w/o glasses is also incredibly valid.

[Chris D]

Yes, I do NOT buy the modern argument that 3D is here for good, "this time". For many reasons, I think it's still for an occasional theater movie, not televisions or (mostly) home theater.

Sorry... until we figure out how to do holographic TV, I don't see 3D becoming mainstream.

[Ovation]

It has a shot if it works with sports. HD sports broadcasts were among the most influential at pushing people towards HD--this could also happen here. I don't plan to go 3D but I don't entirely dismiss the possibility it could catch on.

[aud19]

On a good note it should drive quality 2D display prices even further down

I'm with Chris, until I'm watching even a rudimentary "holodeck" I'm not likely to bite.

[numberoneoppa]

I see no appeal to watching sports in 3D. Somebody, please fill me in.

[littlesaint]

Probably need some actual sports programming in 3D before you can make an informed decision.

It's funny reading comments about 3D and reading what was said about things like color television, stereo, FM, compact discs, DVDs, HDTV, & Blu-ray. All were considered niche, marginal, unnecessary, or even fads when they arrived. Go figure.

[wettou]

Probably need some actual sports programming in 3D before you can make an informed decision.

It's funny reading comments about 3D and reading what was said about things like color television, stereo, FM, compact discs, DVDs, HDTV, & Blu-ray. All were considered niche, marginal, unnecessary, or even fads when they arrived. Go figure.

Yes but 3D is an other story read the warnings issued by manufacturers!! Never before did you see that kind of disclosure from all the products you listed..

[Chris D]

It has a shot if it works with sports. HD sports broadcasts were among the most influential at pushing people towards HD--this could also happen here. I don't plan to go 3D but I don't entirely dismiss the possibility it could catch on.

Well, yes, I DO see the appeal to watch sports. And littlesaint, it's not like I don't like the end effect of 3D. I WANT to see things in 3D! The thing is, I just don't see it becoming mainstream as long as you have the GLASSES issue. Think about it--you're watching a football game... are you going to wear the glasses for 3 hours straight? Are you going to spend those 3 hours doing NOTHING else?

You get up during a commercial and grab a coke. You're not going to wear glasses to the kitchen and back, so you take them off. Come back to the game, it looks all blurry. "oh, yeah, that's right, the glasses... where did I put them?"

During the game, you flip over to ESPN to check Sports Center, or maybe to watch the news. Not in 3D? crap, take off the glasses, put them back on.

Maybe you're making dinner, and just want the news or a show going on in the background, like you're not really watching the show. Hear something that catches your attention, and look over at the TV? GAAACK! blurry, make my eyes hurt! Let me stop making dinner, or whatever else I'm doing, JUST to go find 3D glasses so I can look at the TV without puking.

But for me, the biggest issue is, I rarely anymore block out hours of my life to sit and do NOTHING other than watch TV. (or even a home movie!) I'll sit with my laptop, and every now and then check news, or post here in the Guide, or something. Maybe do a couple pages of paperwork or academics. If you're wearing 3D glasses, you can't do anything other than watch 3D TV. You're not in a dedicated dark movie theater with nothing else going on. You're at home, with real life happening, the kids doing things, other lights, etc. All these other past technologies like surround sound, 1080p high def, etc, if you get a show/movie with that technology, GREAT, it's just a bonus (and if you don't have the equipment to support, it doesn't change anything) and doesn't affect anything else! On the other hand, if you sit down to watch TV and the show/movie happens to be in 3D, well, you've got to dedicate yourself just to that show now, and you're committed to the glasses. Watching without glasses is NOT an option!

Until we get holography, and glasses are not required, you'll always be chained.

[Chris D]

I got this in E-mail today. Rather interesting. I didn't know that DirecTV broadcast 3D material already. Cool.

[Kevin P]

With glasses, I could see 3D TVs being popular in dedicated home theaters where the TV is primarily used in a situation where you're going to sit down and WATCH it. No one's going to want to use a 3d TV to glance at from the kitchen while cooking dinner.

That said, when 3D material is playing on a 3D TV, is it possible to turn 3D off from the remote, so you can watch without the glasses? If so, then you could keep the TV in 2D mode when using it casually, and just turn 3D on when you want to sit down and watch a 3D movie or show through without distractions.

[Hdale85]

The glasses are very costly right now too. If you have a 10 seat home theater then you're talking like 1k bucks just to get the glasses in case you have all 10 seats filled.

[wkhanna]

IMHO, 3D has the half-life of SACD.

It will be rendered an archaic anachronism in a few years when all newborns receive retinal implants that render all displays in 3D.

Gotta love military trickle down tech. :W

[George Bellefontaine]

3D ? Meh ! I for one will not be putting out those big bucks for a 3D Blu-ray player and a 3D capable projector, or a 3D flat panel. Meh ! Meh ! Meh!

I do have a question, though. How does one who qwears glasses, like I do for distance viewing, go about using those 3D glasses ? I expect ypu'd have to wear them over your regular glasses. What a pain that would be.

[David Meek]

Speaking of sports, some ESPN programming is available in 3D now, with a 24/7 channel (lot's of repeats) starting February 14th.

EndGadget story

I'm curious is it's compatible with my DishHD tuner/DVR....

[madmac]

3D is a joke as far as home applications are concerned as are the glasses!. I mean, you would have to fill a large wall with video to get a proper 3D effect in your home. A 40-60 inch HDTV is NOT gonna' cut it for a 3D effect. Dead in the water is my prediction!.

[wettou]

3D is a joke as far as home applications are concerned as are the glasses!. I mean, you would have to fill a large wall with video to get a proper 3D effect in your home. A 40-60 inch HDTV is NOT gonna' cut it for a 3D effect. Dead in the water is my prediction!.

I could not agree more but many company are banking on it. This way they can sell new kit, new software so each of us can re-buy our VHs, DVDs, 2D Blu Ray collection of movies


This will go well with 11.4 surround sound, think about it every two years one just buys more speakers, new TV, new AV reciver, new amps.....and so on

The projector companies are also behind it look at JVC, Sony, Panasonic.....

Personally, I am looking forward to 2D OLED in 60 inch screen and 4K resolution 2D will be fine. I love technology but there comes a point were quality is better than quantity :B

[madmac]

I agree wettou....it's all about getting people to buy new gear!.