3D Blu-ray specs finalized, PlayStation 3 support confirmed

by Ben Gilbert on Dec 17th 2009 1:00PM

The Blu-ray Disc Association this morning confirmed the finalization of "the Blu-ray 3D specification." What we're trying to tell you is this: 3D films are heading to your PlayStation 3 next year and there's nothing you can do to stop it. Sure, you probably don't own a 3D-ready television just yet, but that's okay, because we've been assured that nearly everyone will have one by 2014.

If you're like us and aren't quite ready to make the 3D jump just yet, the BDA thankfully notes that our quaint old "2D" films will still be supported. But don't let that lull you into a false sense of safety -- embedded within today's announcement is the fact that 3D technology "allows every Blu-ray 3D player and movie to deliver Full HD 1080p resolution to each eye [our emphasis]." That's right, folks -- they're targeting each eye individually! Sounds like a great time to invest in the burgeoning eye patch market.

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Tags: 3d, 3d-games, avatar, blu-ray, blu-ray-disc-association, james-camerons-avatar-the-game, specs

Reader Comments (155)

Hey thats awesome. Don't need to buy additional hardware for the BluRay (except the 3D TV of course).

Kudos to BluRay!

Isn't a 3D ready TV just any TV with over 120hz refresh rate? If so I'm good to go cause I just bought a 46" 1080p 120hz LCD. Bring on the 3D movies and Games.... BBBYYEEAAAHHHHHH!
If not... Aww Shhhhuuckkks...

@120 Hz guy

You are wrong. 3d is different.

Actualy, Please - It's no different than the 3-D in theaters.

They both work as 'one eye open, one eye shut, alternating frames' - otherwise known as Polarized or Field Sequential 3-D.

In a nutshell - a movie in a theater is running at 24FPS. 12 of those frames will be the prespective from the left eye, while a shutter blacks out the right. The other 12 frames from the right eye: left eye shuttered. It moves so fast, it tricks your brain into seeing depth.

Techincally, it could be done on 60hz TV's @ 30FPS per eye. But for some reason, they want the full 60FPS per eye, when most movies on blu-ray go are encoded in 1080p/24 (1920x1080 @ 24FPS)

Remember that your TV has to accept 120Hz input. Some TVs will output 120Hz but only accept up to 60Hz as input.

Disko, such a low fps induces headaches. 3D TVs are 120Hz to have 60Hz, or fps, for each eye. At around 30 fps per eye, we can almost notice the flicker of the active LCD glasses, and that induces headaches.

Then again, from what little information I've found about it, the 3D Blu ray specifications could be at 12 or 24 fps per eye.

It Only Does Everything.

everything but play games?

Woah, did I take a time machine back to 2006?

yea I think its 2006 again....seen this TOO much recently....

Nope. It's just that UniBrow's mindset is still stuck in 2006.

:waits for irrelevant RRoD joke:

Dur hur teh Xbox has teh RRoD! hur hur!

Better, Captain?

Cap that would make it mid 2007-2008 tho....not 2006...

@Chris: Cap that would make it mid 2007-2008 tho....not 2006...

That's riiiiight. In 2006 PS3 fans like ourselves pretty much knew that we be #1 since who the hell could stand against the maker of the PS1 & PS2? The 360 had a headstart, but no matter since we all know how the Xbox fared. The Wii was a gimmick hardly likely to catch on or be much of a threat. You didn't even have to blind yourself to reality to make the claim!

Good lord, it wasn't even until mid year that we learned a second job would required to get this miracle, was it? Good time, good times.

^ There's always that one guy that takes the joke one step too far. Or writes a really weird response...

thats still funny to me.."We want people to have to feel like they earned it"

and what did I do? keep going strong with my PS2 until Nov. 07 when I got my PS3 after than price drop....lol

Except for Video on Demand in Canada.

@Wiizer: There's always that one guy that takes the joke one step too far. Or writes a really weird response

Glad I could accomplish both for you sir: Oblivion rightfully earned.

Jeez you're a moron

Everyone will have one by 2014?
Am I getting one for free?

Even if you got one for free, what would you do with it? You only have one eye, you can't see 3D!

Didn't you get the memo? Thats what the whole economic stimulus was about.

The only catch is that after all the behind scenes red tape and corruption, only 5 million dollars was left over and your government certified 3D tv will be 11".

No, but it easy to make claims like that when the world is gonna end in 2012 anyway.

Practicality has yet to be seen.

Same kind of 3D seen at IMAX, not the crappy blue/red shit.

not just IMAX....regular theaters have the polarized shades too now....thats where I have been going to see all the 3D kiddie movies this year

I thought that Imax used LCD shutter glasses? Or maybe that was just the crazy 3d movie I saw at the luxor like 10 years ago.

I believe this spec does call out for the LCD shutter method rather than the Polarized lenses you see in most movies. http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/17/blu-ray-3d-specifications-finalized-your-ps3-is-ready/

Actually, I've seen it. I was at a Blu-ray industry event in LA back in Oct and Panasonic was there with a big trailer containing a 103" plasma and a bunch of glasses. The effect was awesome, just like being in a theater, except afterwards my head hurt. It could have been due to the glasses/3D, or it could have been to the fumes from the truck, but I wasn't the only one that complained about having a headache. Of course the technology isn't finalized (the glasses we were wearing were $300 each), and it wasn't glitch-free, but it was pretty impressive. They had some excellent 3D footage from the summer Olympics in China which was breathtaking, as well as some trailers for 3D movies (Avatar and the Christmas Carol).

Sony will have a similar implementation as Panasonic, though it'll likely have some slight differences as well.

Glasses were 300 bucks?!!? Guess it's time to start seeing 3D movies just to pilfer the glasses in preperation for this.

It's cool that Blu-Ray can do it, but I doubt anybody really wants it. 3D is going to stay a niche product for a long time yet.

Yes. A niche product. Just like HDTV.

In case you're missing it, they're already phasing 3D capable TVs in right now. There are people who have 3D ready TVs at home and don't even know it. I'm guessing that by this time next year, 3D ready will be standard in just about all HDTVs.

And how many of those users are interested in making 3D their primary viewing mode? I see 3D as a cool option, but it certainly won't be the default.

Even if 3D is standard in new HDTVs, say by holidays 2010, how many current HDTV owners are going to go buy a new set just for that? The majority of homes won't have 3D capable tvs within the next five years, maybe even 10, and 3D won't be the primary viewing mode for a long time after that.

I disagree. I bought my current HDTV at a Black Friday sale in 2007. But, it's only 1080i. 1080p was a little out of my range at the time. Now, I'd like to upgrade. That will probably be sometime next summer or I may wait until BF next year. My 60 year old mother still has a SDTV, but wants to upgrade to HD next year. Most likely, she'll end up with one that's 3D ready too. I figure neither of those stories is unusual. Plenty of people haven't made the HD leap yet. So, their first HDTVs will end up being 3D ready by default. Plenty of other people who were early adopters, will be ready to upgrade when 3D ready is standard. If HD (which was a large and expensive leap from SD) can become so common in just 2 years (when I bough mine in 2007, I didn't know anyone else with one), 3D can easily proliferate itself even faster. Especially considering that many people won't have to upgrade their blu-ray players to experience it (the way you had to upgrade from dvd to blu-ray).

Really, the step from HD to 3D is a really tiny step. 3DTV will probably be commonplace before ya know it.

And I don't think anyone said anything about 3D being the primary viewing mode. I don't think I would want to watch EVERYTHING in 3D. Just like every movie that's release to theaters isn't released in 3D. But, to think that it's going to be an option and all I'll have to do is something that I planned to do anyway, which is upgrade my TV that will be 3 years old next year...that's cool shit.

Well we can agree to disagree. Personally, between the three households in my family (parents', brother's, and mine) we own 5 HDTVs that I know of, and none are 3D-ready. We have no intentions of purchasing another TV just for 3D, and I'm sure my story isn't unusual, either. IF 3D becomes standard, I'd be surprised if any of us has a 3D-ready tv within the next ten years.

My thinking is this: what if your mother bought her HDTV today? Or last year? Would she really be ready to drop another grand or two for a 3D-ready TV next year? A recent study put the U.S. install base of HDTV at 40-50%. How many are willing to re-buy in the next ten years?

So, you'd be surprised if any of those households you mentioned bought a new television in the next 10 years?

Yes, and HD's been standard in new TVs for 5 years, but it (HD) barely has a 40% penetration rate in homes.

HD has definitely not been STANDARD for 5 years. Just because something has been available, doesn't mean it's been the standard. Like I said, I bought mine at the end of '07, and I was still considered somewhat of an early adopter. 2 years later, we're already at 40-50% by some estimates.

2 other things to consider:
1) The price difference between standard definition tv and HD has been huge
2) Despite that, the industry has still seen this amount of growth DURING A RECESSION

The price of choosing an 3D ready TV over a regular HDTV of the same size is negligible right now. In another year, it will be non-existent. Quite possibly, all HDTVs will 3D ready in another year.

I don't know where you get the idea you were an "early adopter" of HDTV in 2007. The real early adopters bought their TVs before HDMI came out, before 1080p was the norm, and certainly before the PS3 or 360 were even mentioned at E3.

Somewhere around 2003-2004 is where you get "early adopters" of HD, and 6 years later, HDTVs have barely cracked 50% of the largest couch potato market in the world. HDTVs still have a ways to go to get down to the "Walmart" price point for it to be truly mainstream, never mind ones that are capable of 3D.

...Still another 6-10 years, perhaps...

Well, JRM, if you wanna split hairs about it, an "early adopter" is generally considered anyone who buys into a certain technology before it reaches 16% penetration.

http://designsmarter.typepad.com/rob_rodriguez/2007/03/the_solidworks_.html

So, although the first HDTV was introduced in 1998, you didn't have to buy one in the 90s (or even early 2000s) to be considered an early adopter.

In actuality, HDTVs didn't reach 16% penetration in the U.S. until March '08 (http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/media_entertainment/in-us-hi-def-tv-penetration-tops-23/), so anyone who bought an HDTV before this would technically be considered an early adopter.

Dude, this is the internet. It only takes a Google search to educate yourself.

3D is and always will be a gimmick. I expect 3D television sets to sell pretty horribly, even after prices start to come down. This is, unless, they really push it on consumers. It has taken long enough for LCD/Plasma adoption/Blu-ray adoption, so I don't see this catching on, especially this soon.

I won't comment on whether people want it or not, all I can say is that I do.

But you said that Blu-Ray adoption is taking a long time, but actually it's caught on surprisingly fast. It's been doing better in it's first few years than DVD did it it's first years.

And you're part of the niche audience that wants it. They target people like us as the early adopters, of course.

You can moan all you want about how you think it's just a gimmick, but you're not going change anything. I guarantee you that 3D will steadily become a huge commercial success.

Let's just wait and see how Avatar does ... then come back here and say it's just niche.

I want it too. I'm sure it will be a good excuse to buy a new TV in a couple years. 3D gaming will be so hot!

It's so hilarious watching people talk about how "3d TVs will sell horribly." Newsflash: Any HDTV running 120Hz refresh or higher is a 3d TV. If you bought an HDTV this year, it's probably 3d capable. My Samsung DLP is two years old and it's 3d capable. Fucking hell, educate yourselves, people.

"Newsflash: Any HDTV running 120Hz refresh or higher is a 3d TV"

While that's not quite true...it's not far from the truth. A lot of HDTVs on the market are already "3D ready." And, as time goes on, it's only going to become more common. Going from HDTV to 3DTV won't be as huge a leap as going from SDTV to HDTV was. It's basically just an added feature that will become more and more common over the coming months. I wouldn't go so far as to say that if you bought an HDTV this year it's probably 3D ready, but I'd guess that if you buy a new HDTV any time after next summer, it will be.

Either way, I've had my 37" since the end of 2007, but it's only 1080i. I've been thinking about upgrading to 1080p in the next year. Will probably wait to catch a good Black Friday deal next November. If a few good 3D games and movies come out by then, I'll be geeked!

As a guy on another blog said, "Who needs backwards compatibility, when your system is FORWARD compatible?"

lol

Great! Kudos to BluRay, I'd been thinking that there'll be a new 3D-DVD format (or something along those lines) that we'd have to buy to get 3D in our homes.

Now all I need is that 3D TV.

Sony, you sly dog!

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