Monday, November 8, 2010

To watch 3D TV, you have to stand up. And wear stupid glasses…

"So the entertainment currently on offer is either a) limited, b) underwhelming, or c) confused. But that can improve. The other drawback – the physical reality of viewing it – will be harder to overcome. To watch TV in 3D you need to sit around indoors wearing a dumb pair of polarized sunglasses, like you think you're Billy Idol. On top of that, you need to stay as close to the centre of the screen as possible – sit further than 30 degrees to one side or the other and the image starts to concertina in on itself, like the pages of a pop-up-book in mid-turn. The horizontal plane isn't the only problem: the screen also has to be positioned roughly at eye-height – which means you shouldn't stick a 3D TV halfway up your living-room wall unless you plan to watch it standing up.

Oh, and forget lying sideways on the sofa while watching the bloody thing. Doing that knackers the picture up, too. Instead, you have to keep your head level throughout – sitting there, bolt upright, like an obedient prisoner, watching Noel Edmonds ask quiz questions in 3D. At least if he was a hologram you could peer up his trouserleg for a glimpse of his boxers. That's the future of entertainment."
Charlie Brooker | To watch 3D TV, you have to stand up. And wear stupid glasses | The Guardian

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