PS3 To Gain Support For 3-D Movies On Blu-Ray and YouTube 199
An anonymous reader writes with news that Sony is planning a firmware update for the PS3 to enable 3-D playback from Blu-ray movies and YouTube. The update is scheduled for September, and support for 3-D photos will come later. Sony's Kaz Hirai spoke recently about how the PS3 was designed with these kinds of upgrades in mind. "Given how fast technology turns over now, we knew going in that we had to pack a lot of horsepower into the PS3. Four years ago — when you look at the console's power and its retail price — a lot of people were critical with the fact that there was so much packed under the hood. Now we're especially pleased to be introducing things like Move and 3-D gaming because we're able to show tangibly why we released the PS3 with the power it has, and why it makes so much sense to future proof a console." Sony also updated its PS3 Terms of Service to warn against too much 3-D viewing.
More 3-D madness. (Score:5, Insightful)
Why this push for everything to be 3-D? It was a stupid novelty years ago, and its no less stupid now.
Re:More 3-D madness. (Score:5, Insightful)
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And it was not stupid, just old and bad technology before. He is probably thinking the old red-blue glasses. 3D viewing has improved a lot in the recent years, and for example gives a totally new feeling with games. If you have tried Left 4 Dead with NVidia's 3D Vision Kit [nvidia.com] and a 120hz 3D capable monitor, you know what I'm talking about (it is a lot scarier too).
It really gives a completely new feeling, when done right, and remember this is all along the path for technology that can render the environment co
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It still gives me a headache. When I went to see Journey t the Center of the Earth, I had to put those stupid 3D shades over my regular glasses and everything looked distorted - like watching through a prism.
I removed my glasses and just put the 3D shades on directly, and it still didn't look right. By the time the movie was over I didn't feel good at all - the same effect as reading a book nonstop for 16 hours, but the movie was only 2 hours long. I've never had that problem with the old red/blue techno
Re:More 3-D madness. (Score:5, Insightful)
And putting pressure on the remains of my foot hurts. Congrats, like me you're a cripple. The main difference is that I don't begrudge people who can walk from enjoying it. Be glad it's such a minor disability, could be a whole lot worse than having some movies be unavailable.
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Given I can see everything else perfectly, including the mosquitoes, macroblocking, and other digital artifacts that most people can not perceive, I doubt the problem is in my eyesight. More likely there's a flaw in the technology, or else just that one theater (not adjusted properly).
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No, if it works for majority of the people, then the problem is in you.
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I can watch 3D on my new TV for several hours playing games and watching movies and I've have zero problems. It's not the technology, the tech works. It just doesn't work great for everyone, because of any number of medical issues.
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Why are people still hanging to 3D with glasses? Am I the only one who say those new 3D TVs which did NOT require any glasses?
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The resolution and viewing angle is not nearly as good. The best 3D to date is with active shutter glasses.
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No, the best 3D is with circularly polarized light (which works even if you tilt the glasses off vertical, unlike linearly polarized systems). The glasses are super cheap plastic. There is no need to blank each eye in turn for half of each frame, so there is a lot less flicker. (And flicker sensitivity isn't so much a matter of framerate but of how much of each frame is black; stereoscopic systems require 50% blankness.)
I know LCD displays are all line
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There is no need to blank each eye in turn for half of each frame, so there is a lot less flicker. (And flicker sensitivity isn't so much a matter of framerate but of how much of each frame is black; stereoscopic systems require 50% blankness.)
I disagree. At 60Hz each eye (120Hz total), there is no perceivable flicker at all on active glasses. Your brain stitches everything together.
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Maybe for you, some of us see the flicker.
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You'll see flicker if you are not running at 120Hz, if the frame rate staggers on your display, or if you are lighting your room with 60Hz fluorescents or compact fluorescents. Barring hardware problems you will see no flicker. Hate to break it to you but you do not have super vision.
It's like your phone system. Modern phones cram something like 10 simultaneous calls on a single line, which means what you are hearing is 90% silence - but your brain stitches it together so it seems continuous.
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"Barring hardware problems you will see no flicker. Hate to break it to you but you do not have super vision. "
Too bad you failed to realize human vision is around 72Hz and not 60Hz, so your entire above statement is pure bullshit, or you're the defective one.
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Too bad you failed to realize human vision is around 72Hz and not 60Hz, so your entire above statement is pure bullshit, or you're the defective one.
Really? 24Hz movie theaters must be unwatchable to you then.
30Hz is the scientifically accepted threshold. Some people can detect 60Hz when there is another 60Hz source in the room (like a fluorescent light)., That is the *sole* reason CRTs moved above 60Hz.
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"24Hz movie theaters must be unwatchable to you then. "
Absolutely unacceptable, in fact, and has been since I was a child.
And I can still see electron beam scanning refresh even on a 72hZ refresh on a CRT.
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Interesting. Since you've never seen a movie, Darth Vader is Luke's father.
I assume you can see the 60Hz LCD refresh rate too?
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I'd like to see evidence of your "scientifically accepted threshold".
Try this: move your hand quickly in front of a 60Hz light source. Move your hand quickly in sunlight. Do you see a difference in the movement images? I do and I bet many others do too. Your hand just doesn't look like it's moving as smoothly when
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However, I can't look at a CRT monitor at 60hz. It burns my brain. 72hz is fine. But, I don't notice any flicker with my 3d TV and glasses, and the flicker at the movies doesn't bother me. You're not watchin
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So, I don't see what the problem is. 60hz is very smooth video, and the new 3D TV's are very good. If you want to reject such awesome things because you "notice" something, it's your lo
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So, unless someone is complaining about flicker when looking at things NOT on the TV screen, they're full of shit if they say they can see any flicker with a new 3D TV and shudder glasses.
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I know movie theatre screens can reflect circularly polarized light without changing the polarization, so it can work with projection home theater.
You actually need TWO projectors, each with a polarizing filter (90deg out of phase with the other). This makes such a system expensive and can only be used with projectors, not LCD or LED systems.
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Yes, the horizontal resolution is halved with this method. As I said, the best 3D solution to date is with active shutter glasses.
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You're making an argument here when none should exist. Shudder glasses are really good now a days. And the new 3D stuff with shudder glasses is very high refresh. It works very well!
You should just try it sometime. There's nothing wrong with shudder glasses.
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Zalman make 3D LCD displays that use circular polarization (using horizontal interlacing). You can use the same cheap light glasses that cinemas provide with them.
I have one myself - http://www.zalman.com/ENG/product/Product_Read.asp?idx=384 [zalman.com] - and it works, but there are quite a few limitations. Obviously there's the consequences you'd expect from horizontal interlacing, less resolution to each eye. For PC gaming the Nvidia drivers are pretty good, but, they only work with the earlier Zalman monitor. Zalma
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3D really does not contribute in any way to a movie being "worthwhile" after you get over the novelty. I used to watch every 3D movie that came out when they were all the decent 3D rendered Pixar types, but these days there are plenty of crappy dumb horror movies and 3D stadium experience type ones that I don't consider worth it. Especially since I have an "Unlimited" card where I can see as many movies as I want a month for a flat rate.. except for the 3D ones which I now have to pay extra per movie, even
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...I have an "Unlimited" card where I can see as many movies as I want a month for a flat rate.. except for the 3D ones which I now have to pay extra per movie, even if I bring my own glasses.. wtf?
As a guy who worked in the business, it's because:
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I'm aware of the last one, but still, cinema ticket prices have pretty much doubled in the last 10 years without any corresponding rise in value, and that's before you take into account the 3D tax.
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I didn't say that they should stay flat, I just don't think they really make films any more "worthwhile". Even highly polished with 7.1 surround and 3D, a shitty movie is still a turd.
I welcome 3D and may even buy a 3D TV in the next couple of years, but I still resent any movie where the only real selling point is that it's "3D woo watch it, you can really perceive the depth!!!!".
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They could just focus on bankrupting college students as a business, and not even bother to create an incentive to go to the theaters.
Well, yeah, or they could, like, make decent movies.
But I suppose that's too much to ask. Better to just make Dances with Wolves IN THREE DEE!
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Re:More 3-D madness. (Score:5, Insightful)
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Now we're especially pleased... because we're able to show tangibly why we released the PS3 with the power it has
Sony also updated its PS3 Terms of Service to warn against too much 3-D viewing
Sort of saying: "We are sooo pleased we are now able to sell you something that will harm you, without investing any further", eh?
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I suspect that studio execs are sitting around assuming no one will be able to figure out how to pirate 3-d movies. Of course, there are probably people
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What exactly is there to "figure out" about copying a 3D blu-ray over a normal blu-ray?
At least at first there probably won't be that many pirated 3D movies, because to get the equipment to view it you actually need to have money, and people who have money don't tend to mooch so much stuff as students and kids. When I was a student I downloaded a few movies, now I just buy everything.
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I don't know. I'm not an expert in the field. That's why I made no assumptions about it being as easy as ripping a Blu-Ray movie.
"When I was a student I downloaded a few movies, now I just buy everything."
Same here, but I still like to buy my movies, and then rip them to a digital format for use with XBMC and the Boxee Box when it finally hits the shelves. I guess one of my big worries about the 3D BS is that m
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3D video is nothing more than two 2D videos which alternate every other frame. It's trivial to create or decode; in fact, there are several ways you can do it:
You can actually encode and watch 3D video today, if you have the hardware. The only reasons you're n
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"But any studio execs who thought 3D video would somehow end piracy would have to be complete idiots."
Who says they aren't complete idiots?
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any studio execs who thought 3D video would somehow end piracy would have to be complete idiots.
I think the theory is that it would end camcordering, which is true in the sense that a 2d camcorder cannot get a good recording of a 3D movie/TV show because of blurriness, nor could it possibly record a 3D image.
Unfortunately, it was unexpected that there would be inexpensive stereoscopic consumer cameras on the market so soon, and yes, the interocular spacing of the lenses on one of those cameras allows you to
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10%er? (Score:2)
Per prior /. story, some 10% of the population has trouble perceiving 3D.
I'm wondering if that subset coincides with the subset which is so vehemently against 3D video.
I find it well worth the minor extra cost. Video looks so ... flat ... without it.
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if i want to view things in 3D, why can't I just go do stuff in actual reality? I haven't ever really had trouble seeing 3D, as long as it was done well (stuff at Disney as opposed to crap on super bowl commercials i had to use cheapo glasses from a cereal box to see), I just don't really see what the big deal is. Then again, I barely watch "normal" TV, so that probably has a lot to do with it.
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Where do you go to shoot zombies in 3D in actual reality?
Re:10%er? (Score:5, Funny)
I heard they have zombies in Haiti and sometimes in New Orleans. However, your mileage my vary.
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Damn. I have modpoints but I can't mod a reply to me funny in this universe.
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I want 8-D . . . (Score:2)
To truly enjoy one of my favorite films . . . "The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension"
Some please wake me up, when that firmware upgrade is announced.
When? (Score:2, Funny)
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Normally, I'd joke that you're asking a rhetorical question, but in this case I have to agree. This makes no sense to me either. It made sense for movie theaters to push 3D, because they are in constant competition with home theaters to provide a "unique" experience that will convince you that you should leave your home for two hours to spend $12 to watch a movie while eating your $6 bag of popcorn and drink your $5 soda.
It would also make sense if they had pushed 3D at the end of the blu-ray lifecycle beca
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Because everyone who wants (and can reasonably afford, or has a credit card) an HDTV already has one.
Sony, etc would like some more money and hence some reason for those people to buy a new TV.
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*shakes his cane*
sonny, my computer only has two speakers attached to it - I don't know why you youngsters insisted on this, this.. surrounding sound.. it was a stupid novelty when I was a kid, and it's no less stupid now! Now get offa my lawn!
Except... I can still watch the movie with either its included stereo track or the mix produced from the surround tracks. Why would I complain at all?
So it is with
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So it is with (stereoscopic) 3D as well - don't like it? Don't watch it - there's certainly zero -technical- reason you can't watch just the left view, just the right view, or a per-scene decision (not specced, afaik) of which view to take.
No, but there are some serious artistic reasons why you wouldn't want to do that. The left and right video streams will be skewed to one side - rather than centred on the image that the original cinematographer was looking at through his/her viewfinder. I really don't see the merit in viewing an entire film that was shot correctly using the rule of thirds [wikipedia.org], for that to become a film adhering to a rule of four fiths.
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Why this push for everything to be 3-D? It was a stupid novelty years ago, and its no less stupid now.
Some gimmicks live longer than others. Some are undead monsters from the depths of Hell who, despite the attempts of the righteous, will always return, invincible. Some evils are less corrupting when embraced.
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The few PS3 games available in 3D look fucking awesome. The two movies I have look fucking awesome.
We see everything in real life in 3D. We have two ears, so stereo was natural. We have two eyes, so 3D video is also natural. It's great!
The only people I see complaining about it are A) Complainiacs that will never be happy with anything or B) Too poor to ever afford it.
But does it run Linux? (Score:5, Funny)
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I haven't applied the patch for this exact reason. So far, the only issue has been using the PSN. I haven't yet hit any games or movies that have had problems. I know it's only a matter of time of course but I'm still hoping that they get pressured into reversing the stance before that happens. I'm holding out on nuking my Linux partition until there is something that I really want that I can't get. Luckily, I don't use the Linux partition much, just to play some old emulators that I can do nearly as e
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You could always video yourself using linux. Convert the video to DVD and play it on the console.
Not quite as useful as running it but I guess it's the only way Linux will be on the PS3 again
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It only did everything!
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Re:But does it run Linux? (Score:4, Informative)
There were at least 6 suits filed: http://www.maxconsole.net/content.php?40318-Sixth-PS3-Other-OS-lawsuit-filed-against-Sony [maxconsole.net]
force-retire the Father of the Playstation? (Score:3, Interesting)
>>>"Given how fast technology turns over now, we knew going in that we had to pack a lot of horsepower into the PS3."
So why did Sony force-retire the Father of the Playstation, Ken Kutaragi? It sounds like he was visionary enough to "pack a lot of horsepower" into the PS3 for future growth. But instead of rewarding him, you put him out to pasture. Seems rather cruel.
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For retired race horses, being put out to stud is considered a great honor. Of course, the prospects probably aren't so good for 60-year-old engineers. Tough break, I guess.
You forgot something (Score:3, Interesting)
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>>>PS3(3rd fastest),
I don't know what alternative universe you live in, but this isn't even close to true. PS3 is the least popular of this generation's consoles (3rd place), and its number of units sold (about 30 million) is no better than what the Gamecube or Nintendo64 sold during their five year spans.
>>>Created the top selling console in history, the 145 million worldwide selling PS2
>>>Destroyed piece of crap HD-DVD format with Blu-Ray
AND he also created the top-selling PS1
warn too much 3-D viewing sounds like Virtual Boy (Score:2)
warn too much 3-D viewing sounds like Virtual Boy and that failed relay bad.
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Whoopy fucking do (Score:5, Insightful)
HDMI 1.4 (Score:2)
Does anyone know how is Sony supporting 3D BluRay on the PS3 when it requires HDMI 1.4? As I understand it, HDMI 1.4 is not a simple upgrade; it requires new generation transceivers on the source device which obviously can't apply to PS3s going back to 2006.
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Does anyone know how is Sony supporting 3D BluRay on the PS3 when it requires HDMI 1.4? As I understand it, HDMI 1.4 is not a simple upgrade; it requires new generation transceivers on the source device which obviously can't apply to PS3s going back to 2006.
Likely they are only implementing the 3D portion of the spec, not the other stuff like audio return, ethernet or 4k resolution. Changing to 3D would only require an update in the refresh rate to 120Hz which they could probably have planned for when they designed it.
Now your rootkit comes in 3 D I M E N S I O N S ! (Score:3, Funny)
See THE HORROR of Sony's control freaks in 3-D!
Witness the heavy hand of DRM in its FULL GLORY!
Experience the fear of another PS3 feature being pulled in ALL ITS DEPTH!
Watch as the Japanese come RIGHT OUT IN THE THEATER to take over your console industry!
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Won't somebody think of the children? (Score:2)
And this time, I believe, the cry fits. We all read previous stories about how 3D video games can serve to damage the visual perception of young children. This was identified long ago by a game console maker which then quietly halted pursuit of a 3D video gaming system. Now they want to try it again?
I realize it's "for movies" but I think it makes little difference whether it will be video games or movies.
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One specific type of 3D system was identified to have negative effects in the 90s yes - that doesn't mean all 3D systems will be bad. Besides, 2D screens are already pretty bad for you I thought?
I think the problem with the system that you mention was probably to do with having the screens right in front of your eyes, but the system didn't actually track eye movement to change the display according to where you looked. That seems like it would mess with your brain-eye coordination and ability to focus corre
Not the same (Score:2)
I have a Virtua Boy, and the 3D from that system is totally different than modern 3D systems. You can watch a whole 3D movie now with ease, but the Virtual Boy involved a lot more eyestrain - possibly in part because of the bright monochromatic red...
Awesome! (Score:3, Interesting)
I shall rush out and buy a PS3 just as soon as I forgive Sony for the cd rootkit, and for removing linux option for PS3. This is assuming PS3 is still available, it may be the PS72 by then. And that is also assuming that Sony haven't pulled any more annoying stunts.
Fine As Long... (Score:2)
I'm okay with it as long as...
- Its free and distributed by a patch/update.
- It doesn't interfere if I don't have 3-D hardware hooked up.
- Easy to enable/disable/configure if I do have 3-D hardware hooked up.
If it is seemless and free and doesn't break anything then it is really a "value add" and I don't mind.
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The update will be free, Sony 3D TV and 3D movies/games I suspect will not be quite so free..
PS tis "seamless"
Fix the Damn Original Units (Score:2, Insightful)
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This is not the usual ancient red-blue glasses, it's for 3D TV's with active shutter glasses. You cannot just feed the video stream normally.
Also, it's not just for 3D movies, it's for games too.
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I don't know how it works, but it can be done feeding normal images, once for the right eye, and once for the left one, and making sure que glasses shutter speed is in sync with the refresh rate of the tv.
But this is Sony. My guess is that they made something more complicated in order to "protect" their tecnology from copies and to "stimulate" people to buy new tvs.
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Honestly, besides the issues of old HDMI 1.1/1.2 receivers not working with the 3D stuff (you need at least HDMI 1.3) it's really a very simple set up. If you have a 3D Capable TV, it's not more complicated than buying the wireless
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I beleive this does take twice the bandwidth, I know that Nvidia's soulution says you have to have atleast a 120Hz display, they call them "3D Vision-Ready Displays" and have a list on the website. 3d TV's would have to have the same high Hz rating so that you can basicly send twice the amount of information across the HDMI link to the TV.
For every normal 60 progressive frames, you would have 2 frames, one for each eye. I would assume the encoding is different and a software update was needed in the PS3.
The
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"Your PC must have had drivers installed with the glasses etc."
No, this capability was built into the TNT2 generation of cards made by ASUS. No drivers required, only the game had to support it.
DescentII in 3D was the shit.
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I have a new Samsung 63" Plasma display (the new plasmas these days are impressive as hell and have long life spans) and I have a 3D BluRay player and a PS3. When the device (PS3 or BluRay player) goes into "3d Mode" the TV automatically switches and starts emitting the signal for the glasses. If you look at the screen in 3D mode, you see a lot more dithering of the video signal, especially in low light scenes.
When you have the glasses on, you
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Let's ditch cars because you always lose your keys, too.
Fortunately, some of us are a tad little bit more responsible than that.
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I can't buy Deathspank on PSN yet.
Yes you can, it came out today (in Europe anyway).
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Some of us never let them take OtherOS away. My unit still has the capability (but as yet unused).
Of course, that didn't stop Sony from making accepting updates mandatory. But as long as I leave it disconnected from the network (and don't load any disks that contain auto-apply updates), my unit's resale value is preserved. I only ever bought two games for it anyway and my display isn't 3D-capable.
I'm still looking to the hacking community to reverse-engineer these updates to enable their new features while