Those 3D glasses aren't going anywhere

Friday 15 October

Keep those 3D glasses - you'll be needing them

We’ve had both Toshiba and Sharp proudly showing off glasses-free 3D TV prototypes in recent weeks, but according to another electronics giant – Samsung – we shouldn’t get our hopes up of seeing any kind of mainstream penetration for five to ten years.

Few would argue that 3D film and television would have come a lot further by now if the glasses weren’t a compulsory sidekick. And even though today’s sleek electronic jobs are a far cry with the frankly embarrassing two-colour cardboard jobs of days gone by, there’s still a stigma attached.

And, says Samsung, it’s a stigma we’re just going to have to put up with for a few more years.

Speaking to the Wall Street Journal, Samsung bigwig BK Yoon said that while glasses-free 3D tech was relatively straightforward to implement on small-screen devices such as the Nintendo 3DS console – out next year – it was a far greater challenge getting it right on 3D TVs.

And those technical challenges – says Yoon – will keep the cost of glasses-free 3D TVs beyond the reach of ordinary households for at least five years.

Samsung no doubt will claim that it will be leading the specs-less charge – whenever it happens – but we’d certainly be interested to hear Toshiba and Sharp’s thoughts on the matter.