JustPlainOrchids Blog

The final piece of the 3DHDTV puzzle came last night and with having to only reroute 2 HDMI cables and pull the TV out, the whole installation of the 3D adapter (already had the Blu-ray player installed with the 1.4 HDMI going to the TV and the 1.3 HDMI going to my receiver) took about 10 minutes at the most.

First, Samsung did good by putting in 2 HDMI outputs on the 3D player for those of us with 2009 receivers that can only handle 1.3 HDMI). It turns out that the audio can be a problem when you plug a 1.4 HDMI source into a 1.3 HMDI receiver because it is handled differently. The way around this is to use the digital/optical or even analog audio on any other 3D blu-ray player.

So I turned on the 3D blu-ray player, turned on the TV and the 3D adapter came on automatically when I switched the TV to the 3D input. I enabled automatic 3D on my TV for that source input. The movie (Resident Evil: Afterlife) comes on and the menu is in 3D. I put on the glasses and turn them on. The 3D effect is a little funky and not so great. I can't believe it's this funky. Just out of curiosity, I flipped the glasses upside down and the picture was perfect 3D. So I set the TV's 3D processing to reverse the fields and everything is cool now and I'm wearing the glasses normally.

This movie was shot using the same Panasonic video equipment that James Cameron used on Avatar and word was that the 3D on this title is very good (WARNING: Story line is typical Resident Evil so story, acting, etc. will never win an Oscar nomination). There are explosions, rain (this looks REALLY good, but looks computer generated), flying projectiles, fists, an axe, titles, etc. that give great 3D effects. Some are there just for the 3D effects. Colors are great and seem accurate. Images are both shap and birght. The 7.1 sound mix also added to the depth of the movie. Sound direction actually matched 3D object movement. I only saw 3D ghosting on things that had extremes of depth and were in motion. A cable that ran from the center of the screen to the lower corner was perfect. A chain moving rapidly along the same path had some ghosting toward the edge. Still it's a lot better than any of the old red-blue or polarized glasses 3D where ghosting was always a problem. So while there were a few 3D issues due to my crappy depth perception, I was impressed. I did NOT experience any headaches, nausea, eye strain, vomiting, constipation or prickly heat.

If prices are comparable, I WILL be buying the 3D versions of new movies as they become available like Avatar. I also noticed that I could get a couple of feet away from the TV and the 3D effect was still there (this was due to the glasses and my TV doesn't need an external emitter to keep the glasses in sync with the TV). It really looked like an actual person was there.

So the bottom line is that I'm pleased with my purchase, pleased with the quality of the 3D that I can view at home, and will be looking for more 3D blu-ray titles.