3D is dead. Long live 3D. Or so some would have you believe. While 3D was said to be just a gimmick, it seems to be a growing trend in the market. Have a look online at your local electronics dealer and see how many 3DTV's are listed for sale. While 3DTV being in stock does not equal sales, it does indicate consumer interest. But consumers area interested in the next big thing in home entertainment: 4K, or UHD. 4K is, for those who don't know, is a resolution that goes beyond the regular 1080p resolution of your current "Full HD" TV. A full HDTV is 1920x1080, meaning it has a total of 2073600 pixels on the screen. 4K resolution is commonly 3840x2160, giving you a total of 8294400 pixels. This massive jump in quality gives the home viewer a more cinema-like image quality, but at a price. The cheapest brand-name TV is the Sony 55" model, coming in a cool US$4999. Of course, that's the lower end with Samsung having a model retailing for around US$40 000. Yeah, whoa. But what does this have to do with 3D? Well, the Sony and Samsung models both have something in common: they're both 3D. With the availability of 3D about to rise, with both full HD and UHD sets more commonly supporting 3D than not. People owning 3DTVs does not translate to people actually using 3D, however, most consumers who own a 3DTV, whether they bought for the 3D or not, will likely try it at least once. Well, who wouldn't? Of these people who demo their new 3D set, some of them will like it, some of them will hate it. The simple effect of this will cause a boom in sales of 3D material like Blu-ray 3D discs and 3D compatible video games. However, game studios have made odd choices with 3D. Sony in particular. When 3D was new, every major studio had at least one title coming out to support the tech. Ubisoft had Assassin's Creed, Sony had the God of War Collection Volume 2 and Uncharted 3, Warner Borthers had Mortal Kombat and Batman: Arkham City. 3D was the bandwagon to be on but power limitations and lack of interest quickly killed 3D support for major titles like God of War: Ascension and The Last of Us.
But what about next-gen? All of that extra power would be much beneficial to rendering in stereoscopic images while maintaining decent frame rates and graphic effects like AA. This massive improvement in hardware would no doubt improve at least the fidelity of 3D games. And these two points beg the ultimate question: why is 3D disappearing? I'm going to use Sony as an example. As I've just stated, the number of 3DTV owners is about to boom and the hardware for 3D gaming is about to skyrocket. Yet Sony seems to put 3D at the bottom of their priorities. It doesn't quite make sense. They said that the PS4 will be 3D capable, but will not focus on 3D the same way the PS3 did? Why? That's like saying "My fridge wasn't big enough to fit my food, so I bought a second fridge and keep it empty." Well, maybe not, But you get the idea. Now that the hardware is capable and they're not going to attempt the market again? It just doesn't make sense, really. So there's my reasoning why 3D might be making a comeback. What do you think? Do you own a 3DTV, do you want to or does the idea of all that extra D make you ill? Let us know below.