Big news from IFA: 3D in 2010

There's no need to go back over all the products on show--although we'll bring you details of the models we saw soon--to let you know the defining trend of this year's IFA: 3D is coming at the end of 2010.  Samsung, LG, Sony, Panasonic, JVC and many others all unveiled their first TVs and projectors here in Berlin and everybody was trying them out.


It's not always easy to get your hands on those famous glasses that you need to wear.  There were plenty of people who wanted to try 3D and some very long lines in places.


The 3D effect, or the impression of depth, is created by the lenses in the glasses.  Each lens contains a miniature LCD screen, and one of them is always switched on while the other is off.  The two alternate very quickly--so quickly, in fact, that you shouldn't be able to notice them flickering.  It's the technique that the Samsung 2233rz uses, and if you've been to the cinema to see Up, Coraline or Ice Age 3 in 3D, you'll know how it works.

The glasses come in all sorts of shapes and sizes … from the big:


… to the small, like these ones from LG:


3D is great, but nobody has yet confirmed a price or a precise launch date.  These products could well be prohibitively expensive.  We know how this business works already, and it's unlikely that this new technology will be cheap: every brand new must have starts at a high price and then gradually becomes more affordable.

So, if you're reading this news and wondering whether you'll have to wait a year before you get your first 3D TV, it's far from certain that you'll be able to afford one by then.  The other risk, of course, is that it might take longer than that.  One representative told us that it could be two, or even three years before they're actually in the shops.  It's possible, but that would be surprising, given how many were on show here ...