Does 3DTV hurt our brains?
Maggie Shiels
This year at the world's gadget jamboree, the Consumer Electronics Association, 3DTV was being given the hard sell.
The same big push happened in 2010 with the likes of Hollywood mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg telling the BBC that 3D was the future.
As for the viewing public and whether or not they will part with their hard earned dollars for a big ticket item like a 3DTV, well the forecasters are bullish.
A report by Companies and Markets this week estimates the market will hit $100bn by 2014.
Another report by DisplaySearch noted that 2010 was a dud in terms of sales with 3.2m sets shipping but the company said that figure will rise to nearly 18m for 2011.
The big barrier says DisplaySearch's Paul Gray is down to what's worth watching:
"People will only buy a 3DTV if there is enough content to watch, and in 2010, there simply was not enough 3D content available. As a result, only 4% of TVs 40" and larger had 3D capabilities."
James Cameron's hit with Avatar did woo millions of people to the big screen to watch 3D done at its best. Since then there have been a plethora of movies that reviewers say just seem to have had 3D slapped on them so the theatre can charge more for the privilege.
One big naysayer of 3D and the efforts by studios to render everything in this mould is Pulitzer prize winning film critic Roger Ebert who has written for the Chicago Sun Times since 1967.
He hates 3D and maintains our brains just can't handle the visuals.
"It doesn't work with our brains and it never will," Mr Ebert has opined in his latest column.
"The notion that we are asked to pay a premium to witness an inferior and inherently brain-confusing image is outrageous."
Helping Mr Ebert bring in the closing credits on 3D is an award winning editor and sound designer Walter Murch who won an Oscar for his sound editing on Apocalypse Now and the English Patient.
Mr Murch told Mr Ebert that watching a 3D movie is like "tapping your head and rubbing your stomach at the same time, difficult."
It forces us as humans to do "something that 600 million years of evolution never prepared them for".
Read his explanation here in a letter he has written to the critic.
As far as Mr Ebert is concerned, Mr Murch's word on the whole affair now proves "3D doesn't work and never will. Case closed."
Do you agree or disagree with Mr Ebert and Mr Murch? Are you thinking of buying a 3DTV this year?
Credit: BBC (www.bbc.co.uk)
No comments:
Post a Comment