First Impressions of the Third Dimension

The weather on Easter Weekend in Southern Ontario was glorious: bright and sunny with daytime temperatures in the mid-20s (Celsius). For several hours, I resisted the charms of this unnaturally early summer, and squirreled myself in my family room to take an extended look at 3D HDTV.

I had managed to snag a loaner unit of Panasonic's TC-P54V25 54-inch 3D-capable plasma HDTV ($3,500) and DMP-BDT350 3D-capable Blu-ray player ($600) for the weekend. Arriving in June, Panasonic's forthcoming VT25 series of 3D plasmas also includes 50-, 58- and 65-inch models for $3,000, $4,000 and $5,000 respectively. Included with each TV are two pairs of active-shutter LCD glasses. Additional glasses are available for $150.

I've attended several demonstrations of 3D HDTV at tradeshows and other industry events; but it's quite different being able to experience 3D at leisure in one's one home, with familiar viewing conditions, and without being rushed by other people who want their turn in front of the set.

My loaner unit was a technical sample, not a production model. Everything appears to be working perfectly. We will publish a full review of the TV and player, along with a review of a Samsung LED-edgelit C7000-series 3D-capable LCD and matching 3D Blu-ray player.

As with any new technology, there's very little in the way of 3D software. I had two 3D Blu-ray Discs: Panasonic supplied a demo disc containing 3D travel clips of Rome, the Grand Canyon, the Canadian Rockies, plus assorted other piece of 3D eye candy. Samsung supplied a 3D demo disc with a few scenes from DreamWorks' Monsters vs. Aliens.

Monsters vs. Aliens looked fabulous in 3D. Especially at night in a dark room, I was completely drawn into the experience. Some scenes, for example a shot looking down from San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge at the decapitated robot, had incredible depth. Other scenes, such as fly-by in the power core of the alien ship, featured foreground objects that seem to jump out of the screen. Most of the time, 3D simply created depth that made the story more compelling.

Some of the scenery shots on Panasonic's demo disc looked artificial in 3D. Long shots of the skyline of Rome and of the Grand Canyon had an artificial layered quality, especially when there were large objects like overhanging branches in the foreground. But those scenes generate a wow effect that will blow people away, especially on brief exposure in a store. Other scenes, such as an underwater shot of a corral reef teeming with tropical fish, looked wonderfully natural and convincingly three-dimensional. And some scenes, such as clowns juggling in Rome, were gimmicky but loads of fun. Balls seemed to jump right out of the screen at the viewer.

As many have noted, there's going to be a learning curve with 3D. Judging by Monsters vs. Aliens (and of course Avatar), Hollywood CGI filmmakers have mastered it. Independent filmmakers shooting nature documentaries will have to figure out how to straddle the boundary between creating natural-looking depth and intrusive gimmicks. A Toronto filmmaker who has shot in 3D told me that it's hard to create vastness in 3D, which at first seems counter-intuitive, but then makes sense when you've seen some 3D footage. I will be very interested to see how sports programming such as this summer's FIFA World Cup use 3D.

I experienced some interesting effects watching the juggling scene from different viewing angles. Seated directly in front of the screen, the juggler is right in the centre of the picture with a Roman street behind him, and balls come straight out of the screen. Seated far to the left, the juggler appears on the left of the screen, with the background behind and to the right. Juggling balls seem to come out of the left of the screen toward the viewer.

In other words, the geometric relationship of foreground and background objects changes with 3D depending on viewing position. To get the 3D experience intended by the director, viewers will need to be seated in front. And it really helps to be watching in a dark room so that you can get lost in a picture that's much smaller than a theatrical screen. Even more than regular HDTV, with 3D HDTV, the bigger the screen, the better.

The big issue with 3D HDTV is of course the glasses. Panasonic's glasses weigh about 65g, or 3.5 oz. If you wear prescription glasses, as I do, you can wear the 3D glasses in front. I found them tiring after a few minutes. I don't know if it was the weight, or viewer fatigue resulting from having a pair of rapidly blinking images in front of my eyes. Also, I found myself wanting take off the 3D glasses to do things like adjust the remote control or change room lighting.

It's early days for 3D HDTV in every sense: availability of software and programming, filmmakers' skills and practices, and the technology itself. For quite a while, most of our viewing will continue to be in 2D.

Panasonic's new 3D plasmas incorporate new technology that also makes them better with 2D fare. In every sense, they're worthy successors to last year's premium V10 series, which received Gear of the Year honours from Here's How. You can read about this 3D plasma's performance with 2D content when we publish our full review.