Sony offers 3D gaming and video via PS3 firmware update

[Lyris]

Any 3D capable HDMI TV/monitor would work I would have thought? I don't think the PS3 does anything that any other 3D capable Blu-Ray player can't.

Correct. In fact the output method (frame-packed sequential 3D) is the same as Blu-ray 3D Players use.

[ince]

thats good. anyone got any recommendations for 3d monitors and glasses

[JP]

Some excerpts from an interview with Mick Hocking who's apparently in charge of 3D in Sony Worldwide as well as running the Liverpool studios.

Now, in June this year we did the 3D Firmware update. Every PlayStation 3 that's connected online now has a new version of this Firmware.

The upgrade basically makes every PlayStation 3 HDMI 1.4 compatible - that's the standard that governs 3D displays.

In September this year, we're launching another Firmware upgrade - and this one is going to upgrade the PS3 to support Blu-ray movies in 3D. Again, you won't have to do anything - just connect your PS3. For the film market that's a very significant event.

Then later in the year - we're not going to date it yet - the PS3 is going to support 3D photos. Of course the popularity of 3D isn't just going to come from movies and games. There's 3D cameras on the market, there's 3D camcorders coming on the market in the next 12 months as well, and 3D broadcasts.

So you'll see 3D games in the next 12 months, you'll see Blu-ray movies in 3D, and as soon as the broadcasts start through our PlayTV services, you're going to watch 3D content.

YouTube will be supporting 3D content over the next 12 months as well - and you'll be able to watch that on the PlayStation 3. And as you start taking 3D pictures of your family or 3D camcorder movies, you can play those back on PS3, too.

Full article

[ChrisF]

I paid £2000 to have my eyes lasered so that I didn't have to wear glasses. I am NOT paying another £2000 in order to wear glasses just to "enjoy" 3D via Sony's method. So thanks, but no thanks.

[JP]

You don't have to pay anything at all, just like other games or hardware products posted on here you don't have to buy anything at all if you don't want to.

I don't really have any interest in 3D when it comes to films as it just seems to get in the way of the film but I do see that it has room in gaming if used correctly.

In time though all TVs will be 3D whether we want to use the facility or not, all the major film studios are pushing the format hard, TV stations are looking to do the same and TV manufacturers are backing it too. Whether we want to support it or not, it will happen.

It reminds me a little of when my Mum bought a TV for her living room a year or so ago and when I visited her I was surprised to see had gone for HD set but as she quite rightly pointed, she had no interest in HD but she just couldn't buy an SD TV.

Not long back she bought a cheap portable for her kitchen and again, she had to buy a HD set even though there was absolutely no benefit in HD at that size. Admittedly it was crap but that's standard for budget products a few years after the launch of a new format.

It really surprises me how quickly HD has taken off and to what extent it has and the HD push a few years back seems very limited in comparison. This support is building at every stage of the process from the hardware used in creating the content, the content itself and the hardware that we watch stuff on in cinemas or at home.

It would certainly be better not having to wear glasses but the technology just isn't available to produce it on a TV set with adequate quality. Nintendo can get away with the shortcomings in the DS as it's a few inches away from your face and you're going to be directly in front of the screen so although there has been reports of a few issues, it does an adequate job for a platform like the DS.

It's easy to just ignore 3D gaming at the moment which is what I doing, I'm not going to be buying a new TV for a few years so I don't need to be concerned until then. it doesn't affect people in any way unless they want it to. If you're not interested in 3D TVs then there's no real reason to not be happy with them.

There will of course be early adopters as there always is with new technology and they will pay over the odds for something that will look really poor and over priced a couple of years down the line.

[ChrisF]

In order for something to become cheap enough for it to be mainstream, you need the early adopters who will stump up the cash initially to allow the manufacturers to offset the R&D costs. Do those early adopters exist for 3D TVs though? If they do, I certainly doubt they exist in the quantity that the likes of Sony want, or need. A lot of people only just shelled out for HD.

[JP]

One misconception seems to be that it's just one company who are investing so much money into this but it's not, it's everybody involved in us watching media including people like the BBC.

But there are early adopters and from the billions that is being invested in 3D but the many companies involved, they seem to be getting the returns the wish for even at this early stage.

I don't think there's really any point in discussing these things at such an early stage as the discussion will be exactly the same as HD adoption was at the same stage, some people were saying it would catch and some people were saying it would and that was really the extent of the discussion.

If it doesn't catch on and filmmakers, studios, the BBC, etc, etc stop producing 3D it doesn't affect me in any way at all.

Whether we want it or not, everybody involved in the process is doing this. Our options are to ignore the format or to not ignore it. At the moment I'm choosing to ignore it but I'm not feeling the need to complain about it in every thread that mentions it because it doesn't involve me as I'm ignoring it.

I keep an eye on the developments and 4 or 5 years down the line when maybe I'm thinking of buying a new TV, I'll then concern myself with the specifics. If it still hasn't been accepted in any way and everybody stops producing 3D content, it's still not affecting me in any way.

I really don't understand your concern about something you've repeatedly said you're not interested in. If you're not interested in it then don't be interested in it, end of story.

[Number45]

I paid ?2000 to have my eyes lasered so that I didn't have to wear glasses. I am NOT paying another ?2000 in order to wear glasses just to "enjoy" 3D via Sony's method. So thanks, but no thanks.

You could do it for one of the other 3D TV manufacturers instead if it makes you feel better. :-p

[EvilBoris]

You should save the £2000 for when your treatments recedes and you need glasses again...

[ChrisF]

You should save the £2000 for when your treatments recedes and you need glasses again...

Been good for 10 years so far Saved a fortune in over priced frames and lenses.

[ItsThere]

Been good for 10 years so far Saved a fortune in over priced frames and lenses.

Where did you go?

My eyesight is shocking (-7.5 in each eye) and I want teh Laz0rs but I'm too scared I'll go blind...

[ChrisF]

Guess we're going off topic a tad hehe, but I went to The Eye Clinic in the centre of Birmingham.

[ItsThere]

Guess we're going off topic a tad hehe, but I went to The Eye Clinic in the centre of Birmingham.

Nah this is well on topic. Need eyes to watch tv whether it is 3d or not!

Cool - Did you have to stay awake? Was it painful?

I am a wimp when it comes to eyes. It is a massive chink in my man armour.

[Family Fry]

Six Million people in UK can't see 3D.

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/39930/Six-million-Brits-cant-see-in-3D?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+mcvuk%2FoXMK+%28MCV%3A+games+industry+news%29

Also had to laugh when Ubi went out on a limb and said
"It'll start slowly this year. But like HDTV I wouldn't rule out the fact that this will be installed in everyone's living room in three year's time, and for us to be in a position to have content that could really look absolutely amazing in 3D."
Seriously Ubi I know a few people who have only JUST bought a HD set and felt great about taking that jump, don't think they will want to jump again for a while.

[Brats]

I'm in that six million. I would like to be able to see 3D, purely because going to the cinema these days to see anything that's not in 3D is an exercise in frustration, but all I see are the separate blurry images.

Boo-urns!