The 3-D Phenomenon

Three dimensional (3-D) experiences have vastly changed over the last few years. Gone are the days of flimsy cardboard glasses with one red and one blue lens, which often actually distorted the on screen colours and background images. We really have reached a 3-D revolution. TV and film producers are avoiding the tiresome 3-D gimmicks of the past, and moving towards actually using the extra dimension to enhance the storyline.

3-D TV

With the worldwide success of 3-D in the cinema, the production of 3-D televisions will hopefully bring that excitement and experience into people’s homes. This does however come at a hefty price, not only the actual television, but you will need to have a Blu-ray player, and ‘Active Shutter’ 3-D glasses, with the necessary cable. The high price seems to be a little unjustified, especially when currently, in the UK there is only one DVD to purchase in 3-D (Monsters vs Aliens) and many TV broadcasters don’t launch 3-D channels until later this year. All this aside however, when it does finally come into fruition it will be marvellous, especially the wildlife documentaries – the unpredictability of them will surely heighten the viewer’s enjoyment. It is also thought that the gaming industry will be the key driver for 3-D TV sales. This is definitely something that will take some getting used to, and it is likely that many people will wait until the price goes down before even considering it.

3-D Mobile

South Korea is often ahead in terms of mobile phone innovation, and this is definitely true with the Samsung W960 mobile phone. Unfortunately this has only been designed for South Korea, but it is surely something that is going to become more prevalent worldwide. The Samsung W960 looks like a typical smart phone, however when the screen is moved from vertical to horizontal orientation the image on the screen flips from 2-D to 3-D. It does this without the use of glasses – this technology will hopefully soon be implemented into 3-D televisions.

The price of the 3-D glasses could put people off, especially when it comes to watching something with a group of people. Not only is the price of the glasses off-putting, but even if cheaper ones are created, like the ones provided in the cinema, it’s still a little bit of an annoyance donning a pair of oversized, uncomfortable glasses.

Is 3-D bad for you?

3-D technology works by showing the left eye one image and the right eye another. The brain then correlates these two images to produce a 3-D image. The cheaper glasses used for movie screenings filter different images for each eye. As mentioned above, the glasses provided for 3-D television are battery powered ‘Active Shutter’ glasses and these open and close many times a second, in sync with the image on screen to show each eye a different image.

The success of the 3-D movies, such as Avatar, have been linked with some complaints from viewers of headaches and eyestrain. This has therefore called for more research into the health implications from 3-D viewing, especially on smaller screens that are closer to the viewer. Early tests have shown that there is a definite link between 3-D viewing and headaches. The brain is however very adaptive, and the human eye and mental processing system can usually cope very well with unusual situations.

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