Low Cost 3D Projectors

[Dean McManis]

Of course 3D is the latest buzz in the news, even though there are only a few 3D-ready LCD/LED displays out so far. Sony is definitely promoting 3D and they have created the upcoming 3D Blu Ray DVD standard, and released 3D-ready Blu Ray players a couple months ago. Plus they are promising to deliver 3D-ready displays in June.

But outside of Nvidia's 3D game displays, the only 3D displays that I've seen and tried out were the new Samsung 3D display with their matching 3D DVD player, and shutter glasses. And they only had the single Monster's vs. Aliens 3D movie to demo the 3D technology.

I thought that the 3D effect was good, but the 3D rendered-2D movie looked sharp and compelling even without the 3D mode enabled. And the downside was that the shutter glasses did dim the display's brightness visibly when in 3D mode.

But what I have been really waiting for is 3D ready projectors, specifically 1080p capable 3D projectors priced under $1000. Hopefully with sufficient brightness to offset the light attenuation, but of course still providing very good picture fidelity. :T

When Nvidia first announced their 3D display technology for PCs the 3D games and demos looked great, but the LCD displays were relatively small and pricey, plus of course you needed to buy the expensive shutter glasses, and they were only good for games and demo clips at the time with no 3D media standard set and no movie content available to buy. Plus there were only a few displays authorized by Nvidia for 3D playback, and only a couple projectors that would work with the 3D system. And again everything was relatively expensive and the projectors were mostly 800 X 600 or at best 1024 X768 (XGA) resolution.

But more recently models like the BenQ W600 for under $800, and the Optoma HD66 for under $650 are being sold as 3D-ready projectors with 720P resolution with good brightness and decent (if not fantastic) contrast capabilities. And at those prices I'm getting VERY tempted to buy one of them. On the question mark side I'm not certain if both projectors are HDMI 1.4 compliant (for playing Blu Ray 3D media). Plus I've read conflicting reports saying that even though they do play regular content in native 720p resolution, but only support 1024 X768 (XGA) resolution for 3D/120Hz mode.

The only things holding me back now are the lack of 3D DVD movie content, DSS TV content, or downloadable 3D content, plus the ever-looming promise of more affordable 1080p 3D projectors at a good price coming out later this year. 8)

What do you guys think about 3D projectors?

[George Bellefontaine]

What do you guys think about 3D projectors?

Despite all the hoopla over Avatar and its huge boxoffice success, I am not excited about 3D. I also saw the Samsung 3D flat panel and felt something just wasn't quite right. The glasses did seem to darken the picture and the colors didn't look correct. For me it still just seems like a gimmick.

BTW, I have seen Avatar on Blu-ray in 2D and it damn near looked like 3D, so I am more than content to stick with 2D.

[John Holmes]

I too am intrigued by 3D. However, after seeing Avatar 2D (like George) on my projector, I'm convinced I'll be okay until the tech evolves.

Avatar 2D is a very immersive experience. My family sat most of the film, with our mouths open in awe. The depth of picture was indeed the best to date IMO.

So now that the industry has the technology to do it (thanks Mr. Cameron), I'm really in no hurry to make a move to 3D.

[Dean McManis]

I do understand your reluctance to jump into this emerging technology, and I share many of your reservations. The brightness loss on LCD/LED displays is not too bad because they are extremely bright. In fact I have to turn a light on in my room at night when watching my LCD display because it's too bright.

But projectors generally do not have issues of having too much light, and for me my projection screen eats up even more brightness than normal being both gray, and accoustically perforated. ops:

But the Optoma HD66 still looks like a decent 720p projector, and for $650 it would not be bad even if it were just used for 3D gaming and 2D movie watching.

The 3D display push reminds me of DVD's introduction 13 years ago. Where there were only a tiny handful of titles available, the player prices were high, and many people could not see a visible improvement over the better laserdiscs of the time.

I just watched Clash of the Titans last night in 3D, and even though it's 3D was an afterthought, many of the action scenes had much better impact and immersion due to the 3D presentation. And my theater viewing of How to Train your Dragon, and of course Avatar were MUCH enhanced by seeing them in 3D. :T

But again there is almost no 3D content available for home viewing today. And most likely 3D Blu Ray DVDs will have an added price premium for the feature when they do come out. Plus there is the issue of $150 per pair for LCD shutter glasses for each viewer, even though I'm starting to see them available online for $80 each. And again the prices should drop after the original early-adopter phase is passed.

For me, I'm probably not going to run out to get a new 3D projector next week just because it's the coolest new toy. But I am looking forward to buying a 1080p projector (hopefully later this year) that performs well for 2D material, costs under $1000, and ALSO has 3D capability. That particular combination would probably push me into buying a new projector. 8)

[Chris D]

Same here... see our discussions elsewhere in the Guide about 3D. I don't see it becoming mainstream, and even if it does, I won't be spending any extra money or buying any new equipment just to get it, for quite some time.

[Dean McManis]

I understand your skepticism, and I share many of your views (as listed above).
But I see this as being driven by the movie studios in the same way that color movies, stereo sound, and widescreen film formats became popular over time.
Movie studios, and theaters need for audiences to have a good reason to go out to movie theaters and watch movies, and they need movie content that is "better" than what people can see at home.

Of course that goal would appear to be in direct conflict with providing 1080p home 3D projectors and movies, but the same drive to have more interesting looking content in movie theaters is also pushing home electronics manufacturers to have some new media and technologies that will get consumers to buy new TVs, players, and movies at home. In addition to enhancing game enjoyment as well.

And 3D looks like a good fit for all concerned. Sure, it might be a short-lived fad (as it was in the 50s and again in the 70s) but I do not think so.

The high cost of HDTV displays slowed the technology's adoption, and that was compounded by the lack of any prerecorded media or DSS DVRs for watching HD movies and programming at home at the viewer's convenience. Not that there was much content in HD. And when HD DVDs finally came out there were two competing standards. So few people (or manufacturers) bought into home HDTV for many years.

But now with the content providers (making 3D movies, games, TV and other media) leading the charge, and heavy support coming from the giant consumer electronic companies, I think that 3D for the home has a good chance for success. Especially with standards like 3D Blu Ray already set, supporting HDMI 1.4, and no doubt 3D broadcast formats for DSS and the internet to follow.

The key is providing compelling movies and games to watch that show off 3D, and importantly making it so that the 3D-ready equipment doesn't cost much more than regular 2D HD displays and players. And we are already seeing comparably low cost projectors (shown above) available today, even before there is really any 3D movie content available to buy.

When flat screen HDTV display prices dropped down close enough to compete with CRT tube displays and HD content was readily available, the change over to the new technology was inevitable, just as it was when moving from VHS to DVD.

Right now it's way too early to tell if 3D displays are going to be the next big thing, or fizzle out as a fad. We will definitely know more by the end of this year when we have dozens of 3D titles available to buy and download, and dozens of displays and projectors that can also display 3D movies, TV, internet media, and games for a comparable price to 2D displays.

[kujomujo]

Yeah, but sometimes it's not about "it works great", it's about being the first to get one. You'd be the first on the block to have one and everyone would be over to see it.

I did that with my plasma... which still works (bit of a burn in problem now) but otherwise doesn't look half bad. Not sure what to do with my Laser disk, Betamax, Divx and HDDVD players though. lol

Think of it this way, every leading TV technology came from the movie industry...

Movie theaters came out... TV came out...
Movies theaters went color... TV went color...
Movie theaters went Dolby Digital... TV / receivers went Dobly Digital...
Move theaters went widescreen... TV went Pan & Scan... then TV went widescreen...
Movie theaters now go 3D... TV will go 3D...

I've learned not to buy version 1.0 anymore... 2 kids and a wife changes things.

KM

[Dean McManis]

I still have my laserdisc player (and about 300 discs) but it's mostly specialty media that either is not out on DVD, or simply not worth rebuying. I never got into Betamax, but I still have my S-VHS deck. I have to admit that I haven't watched much of the older media recently, and I don't even take out many DVDs from their boxes as I've archived most of the titles to a hard drive and play them from there.
I do however watch a fair amount of my HD-DVD movies simply because the picture quality looks great and I was able to buy many HD-DVD movies for quite cheap.

Convenience has been winning out a lot lately as I'm watching HD movies and TV via the DSS DVR, and watching instant streaming movies from Netflix, just because it's so easy to do. 8)

I bought a Playstation 3 console as my first Blu Ray player because it also has double duty as a game system. And apparently the PS3 either has (or soon will have) a firmware update to play back 3D Blu Ray media.

Admittedly there is a cool factor and early adopter perks for wanting to move to 3D projection even before the kinks are ironed out (and any real selection of movies are available). But if the new 3D projector is cheap enough, still works well for 2D movies, and also works for 3D games, then it's not so much of a risk to buy one.

The big difference compared to the past was that most early adopter toys have generally cost between 2X to 10X the price of normal models. But so far the 3D capable displays are priced pretty close to the regular TVs and projectors without that capability.

It's still too early for even most early adopters to jump into 3D today, but I'm thinking that by the end of this year the proposition of buying a 3D-ready projector will be far more attractive than it is right now.

As you mentioned, the movie studios and theaters are leading this move towards 3D, and it's quite likely that home theater 3D will follow once 3D content and hardware becomes available and affordable. :T

[George Bellefontaine]

I still have my Pioneer combi ( laserdisc/dvd ) player and probably 200 LDs but these will be replaced when they come to Blu-ray. Many are older titles that may not see it to hi-def. Titles like Ice Station Zebra, Cimmaron, etc.
As for dvds, I have over 1000 and have replaced a few with Blu-ray but many are just fine upconverted and I go to my library quite often. Just last night I was watching an old Randolph Scott western entitled Man In The Saddle.

[John Holmes]

Dean,

I have to agree. If you're going to make a purchase, getting a unit that also does 3D isn't a bad move. As I cannot imagine anyone not enjoying the use of this feature from time to time.

As to it ever getting out of the niche market, who knows? I say, buy what you like and be happy. :T