Jonathan Foster ’11
Staff Writer

Watching film in 3D has been around since the beginning of the twentieth century, and since then has made great strides, adding depth to many movies, such as the new hit, Avatar.

Although this technology has only been used in movie theaters, coming in 2010, people will be able to watch television in 3D, right in their own homes. For ESPN, they will have their first 3D broadcast on June 11th, with the kick off of the World Cup, and will follow up having 85 sports broadcasts in 3D the rest of the year.

It will be interesting to see how watching television in 3D will be received by the general public. In my limited experience watching 3D in the movie theater, I feel it didn’t add much to the movie itself, but instead, gave me a headache, took another two dollars of my pocket, and left me with a pair of useless glasses.

I feel like this will be the same for 3D television. Although, it may seem to put you into the scene,  I think 3D will be more inconvenient, than entertaining. In order to watch in 3D, you will need to wear a pair of corny looking $100 dollar glasses. If you don’t want to wear these, you will need to buy a special 3D television.

Like any new technology, 3D television prices will start out very high. Phillips, one of the top TV brands is making a 42 inch model, with a retail value of $8,999.00, which majority of the population cannot afford, or won’t be willing to spend on one television.

It will be interesting to see if the hype of 3D carries over from the movie theaters, to people’s living rooms, and how much people will be willing to pay for this luxury. 3D viewing definitely has potential, but it may take awhile to become popular, until prices become more reasonable.