Re: Michael Gartenberg Doesn`t Buy 3DTV
Quadrophonic sound and current surround systems couldn’t be further apart. It’s an apples to bricks comparison. Quad sound was an audio only format that required special hardware and software that was both expensive and did not always live up to the hype. Couple that with the multitude of quad formats that were being marketed and it was a real cluster f*ck.
Surround sound only became viable with the introduction of home video and didn’t really flourish until digital media became the mainstream. Even today there is very little audio only material recorded for playback with surround systems. It was the perfect marriage of audio and video on DVD that brought it to life and into the average household.
Right now, 3D is nothing more than a curiosity. I think with the current state of the economy and the lack of source material plus the fact that HDTV is still relatively young in the grand scheme of things, it’s going to take a lot of marketing skill and major support from the movie and TV studios for it to hit even a minor level of market saturation. I’ve seen 3DTV demoed in the stores and thought it was OK, but it didn’t have enough of a wow factor to make me want to own one. In fact, the thought of being tethered to my TV with a pair of 3D glasses was a major turnoff. I have a feeling that most people will feel the same way about 3DTV and will prefer to wait until a better method of displaying 3D images comes along.