3D All the Buzz at CES

The annual madhouse in Las Vegas known as CES – Consumer Electronics Show – has now come and gone. In its wake it has left the 3D buzz.

Yes folks, coming to a television set, blu-ray player or video game near you is 3D.

Before you take a flying leap onto the 3D bandwagon, I want to give you a few notes on this topic…

As with all emerging consumer technologies, there are competing standards. Remember the Hi-def DVD format war a couple years back..? Eventually it was settled with Blu-ray the victor. The same issues are occurring with 3D, although standards are being ironed out much quicker including 3D format on Blu-ray discs, HDMI signal cable standards and more. However, some issues are still unsettled at the moment.

One such concern is the display itself. Some of them use “active shutter” glasses, which actually receive a signal from the television and work in conjunction with it to produce the 3D image. Then you have “passive glasses”, in which most of the 3D work is done by the television. Lastly there is a technology that requires no glasses whatsoever. Unfortunately this tech presently has the most limitations and lags behind the other two.

As far as 3D content..? Well, there isn’t much available at the moment. However, many of the 3D movies now in theaters will come to blu-ray this year and ESPN, DirecTV, Sony, Discovery Channel and others are throwing their hat into the ring with announcements of content and dedicated 3D channels on the way. Sporting events show great promise here.

The bottom line is that I highly recommend… patience! I know you “early adopters” out there can’t stand it, but the fact remains that 3D has a lot of rivers to cross at the moment. The sweet spot to get into the 3D parade, which will include some equipment upgrades from what you currently own, should be right around Q2 of 2011 and the year following.

After all… patience is a virtue. Right?