Tech Brand Talk

[#1]

So what are you going to do with your new 3D television? This summer, Sony will be launching a whole line of 3D-enabled products from 3D HDTV's (of course) to Blu-ray players to Recievers and Home Theatres. All the components you need for the total experience. But the real question is what do you want to watch?

When we launch, those questions will be answered with product. There will be 3D video games, 3D Blu-ray discs and some experimental broadcast and cable/satellite stuff too. What you are going to watch is a critical issue, because without content you just have a box.

What is really interesting about getting 3D in the home is that much of the content will be built from the ground up for the home 3D experience. It is a really exciting time for content creators, as they get to develop and work with a whole new language of visual storytelling. To help that process along,  Sony has opened the "Sony 3D Technology Center" at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, California, in order to share knowledge and expertise on the potentials of 3D production technology.

The cameras used to capture 3D images are really amazing. They work by taking 2 cameras and spacing them about the same distance apart as the eyes on your head. This is called the interocular distance, a term that will soon become well known. (If you want to know more about the technical language of 3D, check out Lenny Lipton's glossary link at the bottom of this post).

The trick is that these broadcast cameras are big and it is difficult to get the right distance. So there are lots of rigs and setups to make it possible to capture the crisp full HD images. Once you have the cameras, you need more recorders to capture 2 video streams on every camera. While you are working out all these details, you still want to actually think about what is in front of the camera and how to get your story told.

Once you have those images captured, recorded and edited (we are skipping a few steps here, but you get the idea), you need to deliver that 3D content to an audience. In my next post, I'll discuss the difference between a 3D movie presentation and a 3D HDTV presentation.

Thanks for reading!

For more info on the Sony 3D Technology Center:

http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/News/Press/201001/10-003E/index.html

For more info on 3D terms & information:

http://lennylipton.wordpress.com/2009/03/16/glossary/

[#2]

Does this mean that we will soon be seeing 2-D and 3-D releases of the same games and movies?  Or do you think that this will be packaged/bundled into the same release?

[#3]

There is no way I am going to repurchase any of the blue-ray or DVD titles I own to get 3D.

Purchasing titles twice is my limit.

[#4]

I expect initially we'll see a 3D version of a game or movie sold seperately from the 2D version. Eventually there will be just one disk with both 2D and 3D versions on it. As I understand it, the 3D movies can be switched back and forth between both options already. Customers however, wont want to spend the extra right away, and the studios will produce 2 seperate disks. One with both the 3D and 2D version on it, and one with just 2D.

If the price difference is low enough, or no difference at all, then I don't see a reason not to but the 3D version even if I don't have the 3D equipment. If I can still watch the movie or play the game in 2D, and not spend an arm and a leg more than just the 2D version, I wouldn't see a problem.

If (and I don't expect this) the 3D version will not play on my 2D equipment at all, then I'll avoid the technology as I expect most people to also do.