3D TV

I hate 3D. Think it's a gimic. It's been around for over 50-60 years :/

I used to love going to the 3D IMAX movies at the Lowes theater in Manhattan back in the 90s. The movies (I assume due to production costs) were always about 40 minutes long, and were designed to demo the 3D (i.e. no matter what the plot was, they always managed to get a roller coaster scene in there.)

Back at the time, I bought a 3D converter kit off of Amazon (http://www.imdb.com/media/rm1781700864/tt0159423?ref_=tt_pv_md_5) and it looked absolutely astounding on my large Sony CRT monitor. I recall being very impressed at the time, although that was 15 years ago.

The 3D TV and movies that they have nowadays are a different technology, and it isn't nearly as amazing. At least for me, the old 3D movies I used to go to back in the 90s always felt like being on a ride at an amusement park the entire time, and everything was constantly in your face and all around you. It really felt like you were totally immersed in the scene.

Nowadays, 3D just seems to mean that there are different layers on the screen and there's a concept of depth.

When I go to the movies, if the picture is available in 2D or 3D, I always opt for 3D (because, even though 3D isn't what it used to be, it's still better than 2D for me), and I have no issues with headaches or anything. I have a Samsung 3D tv at home, and I do tend to get a headache after about 2 hours, but it's possible that it's because the 3D glasses I have are applying pressure on my face. Full disclosure: I get very bad migraines a few times a week that leave me incapacitated, so I'm not the best use case.

3D seems to work best with high frame rate media. Otherwise it's just blurry and distracting. How 3D is utilized in the video is also critical. A lot of the time it's just an after thought gimmic rather than fully integrated into production from the start.

All in all, I'm not a fan, but there have been a handful of decent vids with 3D. Never seen one of the 3D TVs though.

The same with 3d blu-ray movies, I won't buy them.

3D blu-rays require you to have a 3D TV, so it's a good thing you don't buy them, since they won't work :)

my current TV is less than 5 years old, I hope it will last at least another 10-15. At that time I'll see what's current mid range technology and whether that's worth the investment for the half hour or so a day I use the darn thing.

I use my TV to fall asleep, not sure if 3D would have the same effect? Maybe the 3D programs are more interesting.

AFAIK there are no broadcast 3d programs -- only 3d movies, and you'd have to buy a 3d movie player to watch them.

I use my TV to fall asleep,

You'd sleep better if you turned off the tv. If you need noise, use a fan which has a constant soothing sound. There are other sound generators that generate other kids of sounds, such as ocean waives.

AFAIK there are no broadcast 3d programs -- only 3d movies, and you'd have to buy a 3d movie player to watch them.

I have Time Warner Cable and they have 3D programs on demand. Some are free and some are pay-per-view.

Also, I have a Samsung 3D TV, and it has an option to convert any standard 2D show (on cable tv, dvd, etc) to 3D. It does a pretty good job of figuring out depth in real time and presenting regular ole tv in 3D. Of course, it's a bit of a gimmick, so I rarely do so because of the time, energy and effort involved in getting out the 3D glasses and going through the tv's menu to enable the darn thing. Too much work to just be a couch potato in front of the tv ;)

You'd sleep better if you turned off the tv.

I absolutely need to watch a bit of tv in bed before being able to fall asleep. It helps me wind down after a long day and just relax. I wouldn't want to bother wearing 3D glasses laying in bed though just before falling asleep.