Is 3D delayed again until 4K TV comes out?

Fujifilm has officially discontinued the Fujifilm 3D W3 still camera. This is the last of their 3D cameras. (See http://3d.coldstreams.com/?p=2264)  The W3 continues to be available as they ship from inventory; the Amazon new price has fallen to about $160. Panasonic has also discontinued sales of the Lumix 3D1 except for a large quantity of Japanese language-only versions being sold through numerous electronics distributors in Japan and on EBay and Amazon. I own one of the Japanese language versions and its easiest enough to use without speaking Japanese as most of the menus are icon based.

The are no more integrated 3D still cameras being made, except for 3D still capability on some video cameras, some toy cameras, and the paired GoPro Hero2 with the 3D sync cable. Alternatives are to use two older Canon cameras with the StereoData Maker version of the CHDK hacking software and a simple USB synchronization cable.

3D still photography is much simpler than 3D video photography. But 3D stills suffer from the same hurdles as 3D video – the viewer needs special glasses or 3D displays with special glasses. While the BBC is postponing most of their 3D production work now, for 3 years, Sky 3D says they are continuing at full speed ahead on 3D work.

Dolby and Phillips say they expect to announce shipments of their first glasses free 3D displays early next year. However, glasses free 3D is probably not going to be common until the 4K push is thoroughly in gear. That’s because 2K is sort of half resolution HD (one way or another) and 4K provides super detail for 3D. I have seen glasses free 3D 4K displays at CES and they are amazing. But the technology is not yet ready for mass manufacturing at moderate price points. In 2 to 4 years, the 3D 4K glasses free technology should become available at moderate prices. We hope.

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Fujifilm 3D W3 camera has been officially discontinued

If you are using the Chrome browser, you can go to the Japanese language Fujifilm page of discontinued products and select “Translate” at the top of the browser window.

The Fujifilm W3 was officially discontinued in May of 2013. At this time, there appear to no longer be any major vendors producing any 3D still cameras.

3D enthusiasts can still buy the W3 from inventory (price has fallen to about $160, new, at Amazon.com). The Lumix 3D1 is widely available on EBay, but usually Japanese language only version. The camera’s interface is almost entirely icon-based so the language issue is not a big problem. You can also still get a GoPro Hero2 package and 3D sync cable from GoPro.

The other alternative is to build your own using two older Canon cameras and the StereoData Maker version of CHDK hacking toolkit and a home made or purchased USB synchronization cable.

Sky TV remains committed to #3D

Sky 3D now in half a million homes.

While ESPN 3D is ending, and BBC 3D is taking a break, Sky 3D says they remain committed to 3D programming and broadcasting. Sky points out they’ve “shown more live events than the sports-only ESPN channel has”.

They note that TV manufacturers say excellent quality and affordable glasses free 3D TVs will be available in 2-4 years.  And from what I have seen at CES, I agree with that.