At long last. I've waited almost three months to see 3D movies in my television. I got hooked into the idea upon reading experiences from 3D enthusiasts, mostly gamers.
I delayed buying an HD TV due to the fact that I wanted one prepared for 3D viewing. So, finally I got a Samsung 7 Series and a new PC.
Tridef, distributed by DDD, is the only software available that allows for 3D conversion of 2D DVDs. At the onset, I had major problems making the software work with my Sammie: codecs were conflicting ( my Vista's codecs don't work with Tridef), so when I installed Tridef, it asked for a compatible video decoder. That's when I installed WIN DVD 9. Voila! I saw 3D video but there was no audio. I asked for tech support from Tridef and they said it is a conflict in codecs. I then read in one blog of a similar experience: he had WIN DVD and did not have also audio; he solved it by installing AC3 filter. When I downloaded and installed this filter, I ended up having audio but no video when playing DVDs. WIN DVD crashed.
I was ready to give up. Tridef tech support said: conlflict with codecs, again? I then tried to download the free audio codec from MPA. Note: I tried to download both video and audio codecs, MPV and MPA, before, but it gave me error messages.
On this fresh attempt with MPA, I had more luck. It downloaded and installed successfully. With Vista system, when you download the MPA and MPV, you have to decompress the files from the Release Unicode (very important).
So, voila! I have both video and audio. The first 3D I watched was the Journey to the Centre of the Earth. I rented the 2D version from Blockbuster, and wore the special glasses from Tridef. It was not impressive. It is because I've seen this movie in 3D in its regular theatre run.
Next, I bought the 3D Polar Express, a Christmas story of a non-Santa-believer boy. I tried watching this movie on the Tridef Player and a regular DVD player. With the regular DVD Player, I just wore the paper glasses which came with the package. And on the Tridef player, I wore the special 3D glasses. I was impressed with the Polar Express. The scenes really came out of the TV set, and into my living room.
Next, I saw the 3d version of Shark Boy and Lava Girl, and the 3D scenes were quite fascinating, too.
My Shrek 3D DVD arrived in my mail yesterday and I have yet to see it. Although, based on some reviews I've read, they say this 3D is really a blast.
I went back to my 2D- DVD collection and watched and re-discovered March of the Penguins, Shrek 2 and Hulk 1 in 3D. March of the Penguins was especially AWESOME in 3D!
For those with 3D ready TV - Samsung, Hyundai and Mitsubishi are the three available 3D sets in the market - you may want to BETA TEST it first before buying the 3D software . There is a free download of the Tridef at http://www.tridef.com/ , so you can check if your display will support 3D viewing. There is also a good website to learn how to do the proper connections at: http://www.3dflightsim.com/
I give a word of caution. Unless you are comfortable with computers, do not invest money yet on the 3D software or any PC upgrades . Setting it up is a little complicated ( there are minimum and recommended PC requirements. You need a high-resolution TV set; There could be codec conflicts, sound card problems).
This being so, I now understand why there are not so many movies yet coming out as 3D.
In the meantime, let me continue to enjoy my new-found toy.
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