No, I didn’t get a 3D TV. Although I’m intrigued by the technology – mostly for the gaming possibilities – inconveniences like requiring each user to have their own set of glasses (costing between $100-$200 a pop) and which aren’t compatible between brands seems ridiculous. And since 3D for the home doesn’t have a standard yet, even the 3D Blu-rays are brand-exclusive at the moment, be sure the disc you’re buying is compatible with the brand of TV you have. Add to this that I don’t find 3D all that compelling – my eyes get used to the effect about 30 minutes into a movie and everything starts looking 2D to me – and I suppose you could say that I’m going to take a wait-and-see approach. I am intrigued by Nintendo’s upcoming 3DS – a more powerful, 3D iteration of their ubiquitous handheld, which doesn’t require glasses. Make a TV that can pull that off and I might start looking to buy again.
If today’s comic strip seems familiar to you, you probably read yesterday’s offering from the brilliant webubercomic, Penny-Arcade, which covered the same material. I thought about canceling today’s strip once I had read theirs, and almost did so, but since I was already deep into the creation of it, and felt we approached the topic in distinct ways, I decided to trudge ahead and complete what you see above.
I love the effect you used for the 3d on the tv. ^^
…that said, 3d hurts my eyes. I don’t even watch it in theaters. -_-
once again, the shades are yours, Jaeh! 😎
took a lot of playing around in Photoshop before i got the look i wanted, so i’m glad you liked the effect. hope it didn’t hurt your eyes too much. 😉
alriiiiight the shades!
it looks really great. I’m not sure a 3d tv’s really convenient right now, though. the tech’s not that developed yet, me thinks. or am I mistaken?
The tech exists, but putting it on a tv would force you to have to be in a specific location to the tv in order to see the 3d effect. Anyone would be capable to view it inside that area, physical handicaps are no barrier for it. However anyone outside that area would be forced to see a blurred image. The good thing is that this effect can be turned off (most of the electronic devices that use this support this dual viewing function) and function just like a regular 2d screen. Its the exact same thing they are putting into the 3DS systems, just a larger scale.
Hooray for Wikipedia!
And I agree, the effect for the 3D that you created was quite ingenious, it looks very much like what the screen would appear.
i think he was referring to the tech used in 3d tvs with glasses, not the tech used in 3ds.
shade requiring tvs use, AFAIK, two types of tech. one is polarized images coupled with polarized glasses, the other is a 120 hz refresh rate with half of them being for left eye and half for right eye.
the first tech doesn’t require any sync between the tv and glasses, so the shades would be dirt cheap. it’s what they use in the theaters. the downside is that half the resolution is wasted as they have to have both images shown at the same time. no flippy floppies. also why it’s not catching on in home theater. who wants to spend money on a 1080p 3d tv, only to get 540p real resolution?
the second tech is the reason why everything is brand specific (and stupid expensive). the glasses synch to the tv’s refresh rate and alternate blocking the left and right eye every frame (120 times a second, hence 120hz). this gives you 3d with full resolution.
personally, i don’t think 3d technology is going to take off until we get holograms working.
for this strip, i should’a called ’em “3D spectacles,” Jaeh. so here they are again: 😎 use ’em to see panels 2 and 4 in 3D!!!
as far as 3D tech goes, i think neithandiniem and anon provide good answers, above.
SO CLOSE!
Anyway, 3-D hurts my eyes too.
Poor CF, and $200 for second set of glasses?! Whatta rip off!
3D doesn’t hurt my eyes, but i hate how dim 3D movies look in the theater, Rin. i can’t wait to see How to Train Your Dragon and Toy Story 3 in 2D on my HDTV at home – both of which had great 3D presentations, btw – since i know the color and detail is going to be SO much better than my experience at the theater.
I agree, the 3DS looks pretty amazing. I’ve been wasting time in my graphic design classes looking at the youtube videos for them and simultaneously drooling!
I appreciate and admire 3D technology, but it’s so expensive it’s not worth it. $13 for a movie isn’t exactly helping my wallet out. It’s not like the old style 3D where things pop out at you, or give you the headache right between the eyes. It’s just more… realistic, I suppose? And well, it’s a movie. I know it’s not real =)
part of me is afraid my eyes are going to get tired from looking at the 3DS for hours and hours, Kate, but the other part can’t wait to play Zelda, Kid Icarus and Pokémon in 3D, Kate! definitely drool-worthy stuff. plus, since they allow you to turn down the 3D effect, it’s win-win. 🙂
i agree about admiring the 3D tech but not caring: i’d rather have a brightly lit, colorful image, than one that’s 3D, dim and less clear, any day.
Poor, Cornfather!
the Cornfather can buy his own, dang glasses, Stan! 😉
I can’t imagine that tv being practical for a family, and as Cornfather show us, can’t have friends over for a movie if they don’t all have the shades! “ok, you guys can come over, but pick up a $200 pair of glasses first” LOL
ha! that’s exactly why i can’t see this home 3D thing catching on anytime soon, ESQ. can’t wait for the 3D sports on the ESPN 3D channel where only a couple of your friends get to watch the game non-blurry.
Hey JEFBOT fans, there’s a cameo you may want to check out over on our webcomic today! Hoody hoo! http://www.subculturecomic.com.
Cool! I wouldn’t have spotted JB and CF without you telling us they were there. I am so bad about noticing stuff/people in the background like that!
or if i do notice something like that, i’m usually convinced it’s only in my own mind, Shanna.
Don’t forget Hazel and Jamie from Danielle Corsetto’s Girls with Slingshots! (I’m a regular reader of that one too.)
me, too – i loves me some GWS, r61! Danielle running a guest strip of mine (years ago, now) and linking to JEFbot gave me my first big audience, for which i’ll always be greatful. 😀
love the cameo, Kev! i’ve always wondered what bot and Corn do when i’m away from the drawing board. glad to see they’re hanging out with such awesome company.
I laughed more from the clerks expresion than from Cornfathers situation…
Glad you finished this. Both you and Penny Arcade are good quality and original enough that nobody can complain about same theme. Oh, OK, some may but those kind of people need not bother you.
Cant wait for next strip, but Ill be able to see it only next tuesday. Me sad.
thanks, Maryz! that 3rd panel was the trickiest one to draw in that i had to communicate what was going on with each of the characters without them overtly just saying what they were thinking (which was another option, but it didn’t feel as funny.) anyway, glad you dug it! 😀
i appreciate your comment about ignoring haters and the quality/originality of the strip – that’s always nice to hear!
you going on a vacation? if so, have fun and i’ll see you here in a week!
The 3d TVs are neat but overall a headache. Literally, they give me a head ache.
And just as with EVERY new fangled techno gadget, being an early adopter means you over pay and get out dated REALLY fast. Just as the owners of HD DVDs
heh. seems a lot of people get headaches from 3D watching, jh3. not a good feature of the tech.
and i actually have an HD-DVD player! got it cheap as an attachment to my XBOX 360, and a bunch of HD-DVDs from Fry’s (for like, $2 – $5 each). the quality on these movies is excellent, and i still pop ’em in from time-to-time (Children of Men, Shaun of the Dead). still, i’m glad i wasn’t one of the companies that supported that dead format.
This is an awesome strip. I love that you are watching some kind of groundhog or something on your new 3D TV (at least I THINK that’s what it is since I don’t have any 3D glasses! 😉 ).
I would have totally done the same thing to the Cornfather. For $200, he can buy his own damn glasses! I’ve already given you my opinion of 3D. Ugh. I’m with the headache crowd.
that “groundhog” is actually the mothra-type creature from the movie Monsters vs. Aliens. Samsung’s offering that as a free movie if you buy their 3DTV. here’s a little non-3d-ified image of it.
and i’m with you – if the Cornfather’s disappointed enough, he’ll cough up the dough!
3D just seems like a gimmick to me that will never catch on. The requirement of special glasses (I hated having to wear glasses that were prescription, why would I go back?) and the fact of incompatibility definitely has me not even approaching the fence. And I don’t even really like the thought of 3D gaming (but looking at the 3DS almost has me sold on strictly that). I still have a bitter taste (and migraines) from the travesty that was the Virtual Boy.
aagh! the Virtual Boy! i rented that from Blockbuster, Charles, and it sucked! i normally buy everything video game related and even i passed on that. let’s hope the 3DS is waaaaaay better!
and i agree about the whole “gimmick” thing. if they made the 3D work with the HDTV set i have now that would be one thing, but i’m not going to run out and buy a whole new expensive set with a bunch of expensive glasses for something i’m not even that excited about.
Brilliant detail on the 3D artwork! Looks amazing. I’m not sure I’m 100% sold on the whole 3D thing though… It’s a little lost on me and I hate wearing glasses while watching a movie… But your web-comic is genius!
Love it!
thanks, Funnyshaffer! i hate wearing the glasses in the theater, too – especially when they don’t wipe off all the face and ear grease from the previous users. 😛
P. S. “Be$t Buck” LOVE IT!
😀
Actually, they already ARE working on a TV that lets you see 3d without glasses. The physics behind the process are that they double the frame rate and alternate between left and right eye images. I read about it in late 2008, I think. Unfortunately, not everyone is able to enjoy it, either because someone has lazy eye or has an actual reason to use an eye patch. But that wouldn’t be a problem for you!
yeah, i remember reading about this tech during CES earlier this year, ND. it sounded like a bigger version of the 3D screen on the 3DS – where you have to be in a certain “bubble” away from the screen to see it. since this 3D display is just around the corner for consumers, it seems even more ridiculous to buy one that requires glasses.
Hehehehe, the poor Cornfather surely will buy his pair of glasses… OR A BIG HAMMER.
Realy I like 3D in movies… in some movies, not in the likes “people like 3D, quickly, convert this movie and the people will love it”, bastards.
i agree – those quick, 3D conversions of movies after-the-fact seem poorly done, so far, CE. i saw the remake of Clash of the Titans and a lot of the 3D looked weird or just bad.
I’ll wait for Hologram technology.
i’m with ya, Bananas Foster! HOLODECK, FTW!
Poor Cornfather…
(That’s what I would do…)
maybe jefbot will let the Cornfather borrow the glasses when bot’s not using ’em? nahhhhh. 😉
You know, I wonder if you could use the 3D glasses you get at the Theatre… I have like 3 pairs.
probably not, dj, which sucks, cuz i have a few pairs, too. you’d have to get the battery-powered ones, first of all – which i haven’t seen lately, except in some IMAX movies – and even then, they’d have to be compatible with the specific brand of 3D TV you buy, which wouldn’t be likely.
FAIL!compatibility. 🙁
dude, the picture on the tv. seriously creepy. also, jeffbot is not lookin out for cornfather! how do you watch 3d tv without 3d specs!? its like tryin to watch the fuzzy porn channel on cable! not cool man!
ha! does that fuzzy porn channel still exist, Steve!? …not that i’ve ever tried to watch dirty movies that way. 😉
Bot, you have summed up my feelings on the 3D phenomenon (both in thaeters and regarding home TV) to a perfect T. and like yourself, I am totally intrigued by the 3DS. man, that Nintendo, they just don’t stop, do they? and I gotta say, it’s fun for me that the boys are watching Monsters VS Aliens, as that was the first film where my wife and I saw how 3D could be used effectively as opposed to just sticking pointy things in your face all the time (Beowulf was the absolute worst about that).
glad we’re on the same page, Jed! yeah, the 3DS looks awesome! funny how we’re all down on 3D but totally can’t wait for Nintendo’s next handheld! just goes to show that with the right amount of accessibility (no glasses) and affordability (hopefully), people are willing to give 3D a shot.
yeah, i remember thinking the 3D in MvA was pretty good in the theater. the reason i chose to draw that on the screen is ‘cuz Samsung’s giving it away with the purchase of some models of their 3DTVs or their 3D kit. and Beowulf – i remember that movie just being so dark in 3D in the theater. was much brighter (and better!) when i saw some of it on cable, later.
How cute! It’s Monsters vs. Aliens!!! Don’t ever get one of those tvs. ):< A pair of glasses is not worth 200$ unless you take them with you everywhere, but if you do I'm coming over to watch a movie. Poor Corn Father, I had to do that when I watched Coraline. The glasses were pink and green and the movie had such lack of color that the glasses messed everything up. Love the comic. (:
ha! don’t worry, i’m not getting a 3DTV anytime soon, Nat. but if i do, you’ll definitely get an invite. 😀
Although the 3DS has some promise, the whole 3D crossover thing is stupid. First reason: a lot of people just finished upgrading to HDTV setups and now they’re expected to spend another few thousand dollars to upgrade again while we’re still dealing with the whole recession thing. Second reason: you STILL have to wear special glasses to have the effect. If you don’t wear glasses this no problem unless you’re the type of person who can’t stand to wear the 3D glasses for long. However, for those of us who DO need to wear glasses Can’t easily do because we’d have to wear the things over our normal glasses. In other words, they should have waited to see how the 3DS worked out and try to copy it instead of doing it now.
i totally agree, Fijiman! even when i was shopping for an HDTV a few weeks ago, i decided not to go 3D because a) 3DTVs were way more expensive, and b) except for a few movies (and possibly the 3D games coming out for the PS3), i don’t really care all that much if my content’s in 3D. and yeah, i wear glasses most of the time, too, and the 3D glasses aren’t very comfortable sitting over them for very long.
The whole 3D thing, like the 3D movies, probably should have died back in the 20th century. The last (and first) movie that I saw in 3D was the last Spy Kids movie (which totally sucked). That was before I needed glasses and it still killed my eyes. Now, just about every other movie in theaters is in 3D and I think it should just stop. Besides, if I need something to “jump out” at me I’ll just go buy a jack-in-the-box or go piss off some animal.
awww. im sorry u didnt get thise glasses CF. how rude of JB to leave u out of the excitement. lolz. dont know why JB but i dont really feel the need to see movies in 3d. i like 2d movies better.
heheh. maybe i should put out a 3D glasses donation jar for the Cornfather, jf#300.
and although there are a couple movies where i thought the 3D was good, it really didn’t make me like the movie more or less than if i had seen it in 2D, so i don’t feel the absolute need to see things in 3D, either.
This is why it’s rare that I take up the latest tech fad. (Exception: my new iPad. *LOTTA* potential there! We’ll just have to see if Apple lets it live up to the hype…)
Proprietary technologies are a double-edged sword. Until a particular technology either wins the King-of-the-Hill game (and no, I’m *not* talking about the video games relating to the cartoon!) — i.e. VHS over BetaMax or Blu-Ray over HD-DVD, or becomes a standard by reciprocal agreement among manufacturers — the Universal Service Bus technology that superseded SCSI for connecting peripheral devices to computers; it can be very expensive (not to mention a pain in the ass) to find and get content (games, media, etc.) that’s compatible with *THAT* particular technology. (Just ask all those Laser Disk owners after the DVD was introduced.)
After doing some research, I’ve realized that my Laserdisc*/DVD analogy needs some correcting. Here is the Wikipedia article on the Laserdisc that explains the differences between the two formats.
*Correct spelling.
i’m loving my new iPad, reynard61! can’t wait for the weekend so i can play with it more. 😀
totally! after the whole vhs/beta, dvd/divx and blu-ray/hd-dvd wars, it astounds me that these tech companies didn’t come up with a general spec to use for 3D! how do they expect people to adopt a new format when every tv has its own, proprietary tech!? it’s crazy and won’t sit well with the general consumer.
hi JB…if u do intend to get rid of ur Ipad(eventually) please remember me…..
Maybe it’s me but I don’t get the whole 3D tv fad. I watch tv to get away from the real world. The last thing I need is to see stuff coming at me.
Art work on the image is amazing though JefBot. Y bendito CF. No 3D for you!
AM I rambling? I think I’m rambling…GD Insomnia! Go pick on someone else for a while!
i don’t get it either. i understand to have the need to have the latest, shiny, new tech, but even i can’t jump aboard this bus until the prices come down, they come up with a 3D standard, and they get rid of the glasses. and even then i might not buy. heh.
ramble away! since i’m sleep-deprived most of the time, i can totally understand what you’re speakin’. 😉
Ha! I love it, bot! Super funny, man! I love the way you drew the 3D on the TV. And you know me too, well. I would never spend $200 on a pair of 3D glasses! 3D is not all it’s cracked up to be. You’re right, about 30 min my eyes get used to it and then I start to get a headache from the heavy glasses. Way to go, bot. We can always count on you to be the techie barometer of what’s necessary and what’s not. So for now, I’m going to stick to my 2D “Golden Girls” and “Cold Case Files.” Although, seeing Estelle Getty in 3D would be awesome. 😉
thanks, dude! sadly, even if home 3D catches on, i doubt we’ll ever see a 3D Golden Girls. although with the enormous popularity of Betty White these days, who knows!? 😀
rofl..all i do is blur my eyes and i can see it in 3d …is it bad i can do that? =]
not bad at all! if you get a 3DTV, you’ve just saved yourself $100-$200, hwcbn!
ah yes… this happened when my friend lost his 3dglasses when we went to see avatar… turns out they ran out 😛
that sucks, Leithal! did you guys wait to see another showing or did he watch it like the Cornfather here – all blurry? 🙂
You know, the whole 3DTV thing looks pretty awsome, but i would get sick every time i turned it on. Something about the 3D technology makes me nausious… It’s getting a little better with the newer stuff, but still…
Anyway, if it didn’t make me sick i would be totally into that.
luckily, i don’t get nauseous or headaches watching 3D, Char, but it sounds like that happens to a lot of people (even here in these comments). that’s definitely something these companies should take into consideration when trying to stuff 3D down our throats.
Is that thing on the TV Slimer from Ghost Busters?… ‘Cause it looks like slimer…or a giant greenish rat-mole… I’d go with Slimer as my first guess though.
it’s *googling his name* Insectosaurus from the movie Monsters vs. Aliens, Eptha! here he is without the 3D.
This is why i can’t shop for cool stuff, had that been me, the clerk wouldn’t even have reached the end of the first syllable of ‘dollars’ before a large mechanic type hand squeezed him hard enough to sent his register up an octave or two, while the other large mechanic type hand closed off the wind pipe. I know deep down its not the clerk’s fault, but anger and frustrtion ( that’s lefty and righty btw) would not be able to wait til i found a home electronics company exec. Hmm maybe i should get my anger issues sorted out, or maybe these companies should realise that a TV is a device designed for more than one person to enjoy at the same time. Making additional sets of glasses ‘optional’ and so expensive is just another example why capitalism only works for the seller.
EOR
Just caught up on the previous few strips, i’ve been a tad busy of late. Awesome work as always man.
always happy to see your comments here, Deaconvorbis! glad you’re back.
and after reading what you would’ve done to that sales clerk, i’d love to take you along with me the next time i go to the DMV. 😉
and yeah, thinking that families and groups of friends are going to sit around a tv, all wearing battery-powered glasses is ridiculous (not to mention the cost) and shows just how out of touch these companies are.
lol i am shocked that no one knew that jefbot and cornfather are watching monsters vs. aliens 3d