Sony declares 3D is coming to laptops and PlayStation

 

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By Tim Danton in Berlin

Posted on 2 Sep 2009 at 16:32

The IFA halls may be half-finished, with the plastic coating still on the red carpet, but Sony kicked off Europe’s premier consumer electronics show two days early by promising that 3D is coming to its laptops and consoles.

“3D is clearly on the way to the mass market,” said Sir Howard Stringer, chairman, CEO and president of Sony. “There are a variety of issues to be addressed, but the 3D train is on the track and we at Sony are ready to drive it home.”

To demonstrate it in action, Sony projected a series of games, films and sport on the hall’s huge screen (powered by a Sony projector, naturally).

Unlike Nvidia’s 3D Vision, which relies on battery-powered glasses, Sony’s demonstration used a pair of plastic, polarised Real3D glasses (as shown in the picture above). The results were impressive, but nothing really new – which is why Sir Stringer described the applause that met it as merely “decent”.

Of more interest was Sir Stringer’s promise that 3D technology would be built into other Sony products. “In addition to television, Sony will enable other devices – including Playstation and VAIO – to [support] 3D.”

Sony’s product announcements didn’t stop there. Fujio Nishida, president of Sony Europe, announced that the forthcoming series of Bravia TVs would support streaming of “catch-up” TV content from UK broadcaster Five.

Using the same technology, customers will also be able to watch video stored on websites such as YouTube – direct on their Bravia TV.