3DTV Reviewer – 3DTV Reviews And Buying Guides

With the recent Playstation 3 firmware update to play 3D games, Sony took 3D games into people’s living rooms for the first time . Previously only high-end computers using Nvidia’s 3D Vision system could play games in 3D, but now 3D games are available to people with an upgraded PS3 and a 3DTV.

The first set of games, Wipeout, SuperStardust, PAIN and a demo of MotorStorm Pacific Rift is available for £23.99 from the PlayStation Store or as a bonus with purchase of a Sony Bravia 3D TV package. If you already have the games, you get the 3D upgrade for free.

3D Blu Ray Discs

In the coming months, Sony will release another firmware update for the PS3 to enable it to play 3D Blu-Rays such as “Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs” which is the first standalone 3D Blu Ray disc, available from June 14th (to be followed by “Open Season” and “Monster House”).

Bravia 3DTV’s

The first Bravia 3DTV, the 40-inch KDL-HX803 arrives on June 12th with other models following later.

3D Blu-Ray Players

There are also non-PS3 Blu-Ray players such as the BDP-S470 which gets a firmware update on June 12th and the BDP-S570 which goes on sale at the same time and will be 3D-ready when releases.

New PS3 Pricing?

Sony also caused a stir when the PS3 was recently priced in it’s USA online store “from $199.99″, which seems to have been a mistake, but could also have possibly been an insight into an upcoming pricing change… perhaps when bundled with a 3DTV. What that means for the UK, where a PS3 currently sells for about three hundred quid (unless on special offer) is anyone’s guess.

LG have announced that their rechargeable AG-S100 3D glasses are now available at shops across the UK for £99.99.

Unlike the slightly less expensive battery-powered 3D active shutter glasses, this model from LG can be recharged using a USB port. On a full recharge you’ll get 40 hours of wireless viewing from them. Of course, the LG AG-S100 work with LG’s 3DTV’s, at the moment the LX9xxx and LX6xxx models.

The AG-S100 glasses synchronise with an emitter built into the LG 3DTV so that each side of the glasses alternately darkens for a fraction of a second to give each eye a different image which, when combined by your brain, creates the 3D effect at the full High Definition of 1080p.

The current best price for the AG-S100 3D glasses, that we could find, was £99.99 per pair from the Dixons Group (PC World, Dixons, Curry’s). Click here for full details, latest pricing and availability.

Sony have a new 3DTV commerical ad for TV. Check it out. What do you think? It certainly makes me want a 3DTV!

I’m not too keen on the out-of-focus images, but I can appreciate that they add impact value to the ad. It just goes to show that there’s no easy way to convey how 3DTV will look to people watching 2D screens. It’s a tricky marketing puzzle for sure!

If you like Super Stardust HD, and have a 3DTV, you’re in for a pleasant surprise. According to posts at the AVForums, the game is already available in 3D from the Playstation Network. Here are some quotes from the forum thread by people who have experienced the game in 3D…

Well colour me corrected…

Super Stardust HD is already ‘proper’ 3D – and it looks GORGEOUS!

I start up the full game and it tells my TV (via amp) that it’s a 3D game and the TV asks me to turn my 3D glasses on (none of this pressing the 3D button).

I quite liked this game as an early PS3 release, and now it looks incredible. More just a sense of depth than anything, but some explosions really come out of the screen and feel as though the pixels are coming right for ya.

I can’t wait for the patch for Wipeout HD!!

… and…

3D works automatically as described.

And it looks err…. WOW!

… and…

Thankyou, it works and it’s superb! Definitely should make people realise 3D is here to stay,

Roll on the other updates!

… also…

I’m not a big gamer, but the 3D effect is simply stunning with all sorts of stuff flying out of the screen and hitting your between the eyes! It’s really quite brilliant.

A friend of mine who was very sceptical about the whole 3D thing came over and had a look. After he’d stopped “whooping” with excitement he stated that it was 100 x better than he imagined it would be. Praise indeed.

So, as we always predicted here at 3dtvreviewer, it could well be games that are the “killer app” for 3DTV and drive its adoption. Sony’s version 3.3 firmware update for the PS3 back in April laid the groundwork for 3D games which were announced for June 10th (Wipeout HD, MotorStorm Pacific Rift, Super Stardust HD and PAIN). Judging from the comments above, Super Stardust HD seems to already be available in 3D and getting rave reviews! The four games will also be available to anyone who buys a 3D Bravia TV.

Well now, just when you though that watching 3D TV may be less like Avatar at the cinema and more like staring into a box with a bit of depth perspective, along comes LG at the SID 2010 convention in Seattle, WA, with a “world’s largest” 84-inch mammoth 3DTV (press release)….yup, that’s a good old SEVEN FEET of screen goodness…. not far off what a home cinema setup with project and screen usually comes up with.

Impressive? Sure… but what’s more impressive is the resolution, which clocks in at UHD (ultra high definition) of 3840 X 2160 pixels which is four times the resolution of previous “full HD” TV panels at 1920 X 1080.

Now THAT’S something I want to see… in my home… from the sofa!

Don’t forget to enter the competition to win a 3DTV and 3D Blu Ray package from LG. It won’t be 84-inches though!