There are plenty of names in the smart TV manufacturing business that manage to just roll off the tongue so easily: LG, Samsung, Sony, John Lewis… well the last one is one that the brand-owner will at least hope can join that upper-echelon in the future, after announcing plans to launch their first set.

The English brand, better known as a line of department stores, are using that retail section as the sole carrier of a new set of own-branded Ultra HD TV sets that have this week been released.

Whilst not entirely their own work (powering coming from the ‘webOS’ platform of LG in a similar manner to Android’s operating system coverage of mobile devices), the new set, christened the ‘JL9000′ Smart Full HD TV, has launched in-store and online for John Lewis at the prices starting from £1,399 (currently priced as high as £2,199 not including add-ons) complete with complimentary 5-year guarantee.

Sizes of the set are noted as being ’49-inch, 55-inch and 60-inch’ options, with features of the line including the triple key abilities of 3D, Ultra HD, and connected TV capabilities, all of which would be considered minimal by most when looking at the price. Also promoted by John Lewis is the LG set’s ‘built-in 2.1 soundbar’, an integrated selection of electronic programming guides, and pre-loaded apps that include Netflix, YouTube, BBC iPlayer, Demand 5, and Now TV, amongst others.

John Kempner, John Lewis ‘vision buyer’, summarised: “There is a continuing trend in customer demand for larger screen sizes with sales of 49-inch and larger accounting for over 25% of John Lewis TV sales. We wanted to create our own range of premium large screen TVs that would have a distinctive look and also offer the benefits of the very latest in on-demand Smart TV technology, while being easy to use.”

People not pleased in the direction that John Lewis are taking by selling their own-brand TV sets, though, should consider the time-honoured logic that the more things change:

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In a handheld technology industry where Japanese company Nintendo are busy selling their new and groundbreaking Nintendo 2DS 2 years after the 3DS first hit shelves, it will be refreshing to some to see a company take a more natural order in the visual display capabilities products (regardless of what is behind the screen).

In Amazon’s case, though, it is an issue of their first smartphone setting the trends rather than upgrading in keeping with rivals, after sources of the company reported that the long-rumoured smartphone they are producing will be revealed with a 3D display.

Also noted by the sources was that the announcement of said smartphone is likely to occur in June, presumably not long after Apple’s potentially product-underwhelming ‘WWDC’ event.

Speaking to The Wall Street Journal, the online retailer-turned e-reader/tablet computer manufacturer are already said to have demonstrated the technology to their developers, and are on course for a ‘late September’ date when it comes to shipping the device.

Technology-wise, it is believed that the handheld set is set to implement ‘retina-tracking’ capabilities via four embedded front-facing cameras/’sensors’, designed to offer a 3D ‘hologram’-style effect from any angle, all without having to use specialised glasses. The developments are also reportedly capable of using a person’s eye movement, alongside face-screen distance, as means to create automatic zoom on images as an optional feature.

As the culmination of a number of rumours suggesting that Amazon’s first-ever smartphone effort will be a 3D-capable one, the product hinted to have been in line ever since the first Kindle Fire will be edging a little closer with this announcement, and will potentially be their most notable technological development since the voice-controlled/augmented reality shopping assistant Amazon Dash…

The stereotype that older people are intimidated by new technology could be well and truly demolished if nature documentarian David Attenborough was used as the sole example in any studies, as his efforts to experiment with developing viewing methods continues with the announcement of new series Conquest of the Skies.

While the core concept of the programme (a nature documentary looking primarily at creatures of the sky) will not be a surprise to anyone, the manner in which it will be displayed could be described as such, after it was confirmed that the programme is set to be one of the world’s first (in particular for the ‘wildlife documentary’ genre) to be produced primarily for the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset.

Set to at least provide commentary on the footage filmed, 87-year-old Attenborough’s association with the project will continue from a Galapagos Islands nature special filmed in recent times for Sky 3D, and will be an additional filming mission for those sent to the Asian island of Borneo, with the primary purpose being to film there and in ‘other locations’ for another Sky 3D special.

Part of that schedule, though, will be used to set up an ‘8-camera rig‘ for filming Conquest of the Skies , which will culminate in a unique ‘360-degree visual experience’ that only the Sony-backed device can currently deliver.

Speaking to Real Screen at the MIPTV event in Cannes (France), John Morris, the commercial director of production company Atlantic Productions: “We’re now filming for the Oculus Rift. So when we filmed our recent flight in Borneo, we filmed with an eight-camera rig, so you got the full 360° experience. In terms of the creative challenge, we look at this as being comparable to the beginning of the film industry.”

With content such as this high-profile nature documentary on its way, the Facebook subsidiary (at the price of approximately $2b in March) known as Oculus VR will soon have plenty to showcase on their ‘Rift’ product primarily intended for immersive video gaming on Sony PlayStation products, so can Attenborough help give life to a potential new entertainment experience?

In the 1960’s there was an animated television show called The Jetsons.  One of the things that appeared on the show set in the future was a 3D television that projected the content onto the living room floor.  Back then audiences marveled at this and wondered if it would ever be possible.  Nowadays, 3D technology is alive and growing by leaps and bounds.

There are several ways 3D is achieved.  One is via the screens you watch.  New flat screen televisions have 3D built in as an option.  One can wear specialized glasses or sit in a specific viewing area to see the content in 3D.  Special glasses that project a 3D movie screen, software for your computer or flat screen that allows for conversion to 3D and more are here and now.

What’s going to happen in the near future is the hope of surround 3D but that would be a monumental effort that only video games could achieve as shooting a motion picture this way would be far too costly and complex.

Sports fans love the 3DTV content.  Feeling like they’re right there at the game makes for more fun viewing.  Broadcaster and content developers are rapidly competing to get to the newest technologies.  Inside helmet cams, on the field embedded cams, if all were 3D compliant you wouldn’t be able to peel people from the television set.

Online you can use a number of software converters for 3D viewing.  These programs convert content you watch into the usual 3D formats.  They require glasses or seating positioning to enjoy the content.  Video games are storming forward with whatever they can get away with to get more 3D content and make the gaming community catch up.

One of the funnest things is to use some 3D conversion software to watch your favorite classic shows like I Love Lucy or The Beatles on the Ed Sulllivan show in 3D.

Producers, directors, actors, network execs, and the general public are all wondering what the future holds for video and television on the web and computing.

courtesy whathifi.com

People are talking about the amazing 3D screens and technology.  So far you can watch a huge number of content and video games in 3D.  Making the next step where one is enveloped by the video action is what the Japanese have been feverishly working on. Imagine watching a 3D movie but you can reach out and feel the air, the textures, the actors, and so on.

This is something that sci-fi movies and television shows have tantalized us with for decades.  The old Jetsons cartoon sitcom had a television set that was a wall that projected the content into the living room in full 3D.  Star Trek introduced virtual reality environments in its 1970s cartoon series and later as the Holo Deck in Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Immersing oneself into the narrative of a story or historical event in 3D or perhaps some new 4D technology has investors on Wall Street chomping at the bit.  They have no clue where the next technological breakthrough is going to come from and from whom.  History has shown that big paradigm shifts can come from someone’s garage or their parent’s basement not some multi-million dollar laboratory.

That being said, it’s wise to keep an eye out for that next breakthrough.  It could come at any second from any direction. When it does you can bet it will be all over the place as there’s no place left to go but to make fantasy a tangible reality and whoever enhances this technology will rule.