As we bid adieu to 2011, let’s use this final Roundtable of the year to look ahead and make our home theater wishes for 2012. Are you planning to upgrade your HT equipment? Are there specific movies that you hope will finally come to Blu-ray this year? Perhaps you’re waiting for some company to release a new gadget that will solve a nagging problem you have? We’ll tell you what we’re hoping for if you’ll do the same.
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One of the more obvious downsides to the current generation of 3D home theater is an artifact known as crosstalk (or “ghosting”), in which picture information meant for one eye intrudes into the other eye’s view. This results in a ghostly double-image around objects in the frame. It can be incredibly distracting when it happens. After a recent bout of terrible crosstalk on a couple of Blu-ray 3D discs, I thought that I might have figured out a potential way to reduce or eliminate the artifact. Alas, I found no easy cure for this 3D malady.
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When I upgraded my home theater to 3D a few months ago, I originally predicted that about 90% of my viewing would remain in traditional 2D format. The reality has turned out to be closer to 99%. Nonetheless, I’ve watched a fair amount of 3D content on Blu-ray, cable and videogames. After struggling for a while to find the best settings and calibration, I think that I’ve achieved a pretty good sense of “looking through a window” 3D depth. However, what I have rarely if ever seen are the so-called “pop-out” effects where objects are supposed to jump forward from the screen. Does anyone else have this problem?
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Last month, I mentioned that I finally made the decision to remove the Toshiba HD-XA2 HD DVD player from my home theater setup. Rather than deal with any separation anxiety, I wanted to replace it with a new toy. Once I satisfied the WAF requirements, which were nothing backbreaking really (don’t tell her that!), I received approval to purchase. Soon, I will build my first HTPC, which might be a challenge because I haven’t built my own computer in a while. Before we get to that, however, I first bought and fooled around with a new Blu-ray 3D player: the Panasonic DMP-BDT310. The interesting thing about this model is that it has the ability to convert 2D content to 3D. But how well does it work?
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I feel like it’s the ’90s all over again. Remember the “Virtual Reality” craze, which begat the Nintendo Virtual Boy and similar failed products? Well, Sony would have us believe that VR is primed for a comeback. It seems unlikely to me, but I suppose that stranger things have happened.
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When it comes to DVD and Blu-ray players, OPPO Digital has been my brand of choice for years. The company’s first Blu-ray player, the BDP-83, was my primary reference machine for both DVD and Blu-ray from its release in 2009 until I replaced it about six months ago with the newer BDP-93, which adds support for 3D playback. Yet I still kept that BDP-83 around as well for one reason – I’d had a region-free hardware modification installed that wasn’t compatible with and couldn’t be transferred to the newer model. Well, an affordable and easy-to-install hardware mod is now available for the BDP-93, which has allowed me to finally retire that BDP-83.
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With 3D TV sales for the year falling short of expectations, the consumer electronics industry has already begun playing the blame game. Analysts typically cite the high prices and viewers’ reluctance to wear 3D glasses as major obstacles to consumer acceptance. Meanwhile, 3D hardware manufacturer Panasonic claims that Hollywood is primarily at fault for not making enough good 3D movies that people want to buy or watch on 3D TVs. This seems awfully hypocritical coming from the company that has locked up the 3D format’s most hotly-desired title as a bundle package exclusive that effectively keeps it out of the hands of the majority of interested consumers.
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Think 3D TV is an annoying gimmick and want no part in it? Here’s one intriguing use for 3D televisions that you may not have considered: Multi-player videogames where each player gets a full-screen view of his or her part in the action on the same set. Would you be willing to wear glasses for that?
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When I wrote about my experience with 3D playback on my new JVC DLA-RS40 projector a couple weeks ago, I forgot to mention one major annoyance that has bothered me ever since: The projector’s 3D sync emitter doesn’t play well with the rest of my home theater gear.
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In addition to upgrading my main home theater display to a new JVC 3D projector, I’ve also recently added a Vizio E3D320VX television to my theater room. Not only does this give me a second screen for when I don’t feel like firing up the projector, the Vizio set is also notable as a passive 3D display, which has allowed me to do some comparisons with the active shutter type used in the projector. And with its low price points, Vizio is definitely making an aggressive push to gain market traction for the passive technology.
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