3D and Curved Screen TVs Fade Away

Megalith

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I don’t have much experience with curved screens when it comes to near-field usage (i.e., PC monitors), but I can tell you that the curved display on my OLED TV has been nothing more than a distraction. And as for 3D, well, I totally forgot my display even supports that feature. It turns out that the industry holds a similar disinterest, as these technologies either saw sharp decline or were nowhere to be found in upcoming products by big players such as LG. Do either still interest you?

While there are fewer curved TVs at CES as compared to the past couple years, when it came to 3D capable flat panel displays from major TV makers, there was nothing at all to see at CES. Last year I said that 3D for TV is dead and some commenters thought I was being a bit hasty. Well, in 2017 it’s a fact: Nobody in the TV industry is supporting 3D now that the focus is on HDR. So, if you happen to be the owner of a curved screen 3D capable TV, take good care of it. For all you know, in a few decades it’s possible it’ll be considered a priceless historical artifact. Especially if it comes with a working Blu-ray player and a copy of Pacific Rim 3D. When it comes to sentiment, a vocal contingent of AV enthusiasts will miss 3D. But best I can tell, there’s nobody complaining about the decline of the curve. It already has me wondering if we will see any curved options—at all—at CES next year.
 
Thank god that this curved screen nonsense is coming to an end. It can ONLY make sense on screen sizes and rooms much bigger than any normal consumer would ever have, or what is technically possible to produce by the manufacturer. It would be of use in a medium to large cinema, not somebodys living room, and even then, it distorts the picture for anyone not sitting in the center of the screen.
 
Has anyone used a curved screen as a PC monitor? When I first saw them I thought that might be the only useful application. Perhaps an ultrawide that curved around to fill your periphery.

As a TV I'd agree they are just a gimmick. I checked out a Samsung curved TV at Best Buy and then bought a Sony Bravia. I can't understand why anyone would want a curved TV.
 
Curved TVs make sense if you're trying to cram a 70" TV in a tiny living space. If you're sitting a reasonable distance back, a flat screen is better.

Curved monitors make sense for anything over 27" IMO, since you're sitting so close to the screen.
 
Our new 65" 4K LG OLED TV is awesome. Sitting with our eyes about 2 meters fromt he screen, we don't notice the curve.
 
Our new 65" 4K LG OLED TV is awesome. Sitting with our eyes about 2 meters fromt he screen, we don't notice the curve.

Yeah I'm in the same boat, have had the Samsung JS9500 series for over a year now and never even think about the curve. I suppose on a smaller TV sitting a far distance away you may see the distortion, which may be Megalith's issue.
 
Has anyone used a curved screen as a PC monitor? When I first saw them I thought that might be the only useful application. Perhaps an ultrawide that curved around to fill your periphery.

As a TV I'd agree they are just a gimmick. I checked out a Samsung curved TV at Best Buy and then bought a Sony Bravia. I can't understand why anyone would want a curved TV.

Ultrawide curved monitors are great, especially for playing games. The subtle curve does help fill you peripheral vision a little more and it just looks nice.
 
Yeah, I'm definitely not a fan of the 3D tv. I have a friend with one who still buys 3D movies and wants to watch them, and it's just annoying to have that crap on my face. Plus it gives a bad experience, the flicker doesn't give me headaches but it's definitely noticeable and distracting. 3D works much better in the theatre with the polarized lenses instead of the shutter glasses.
 
Yeah, I'm definitely not a fan of the 3D tv. I have a friend with one who still buys 3D movies and wants to watch them, and it's just annoying to have that crap on my face. Plus it gives a bad experience, the flicker doesn't give me headaches but it's definitely noticeable and distracting. 3D works much better in the theatre with the polarized lenses instead of the shutter glasses.

It's too bad that passive 3D TVs vanished pretty quickly. Those were a much better experience for watching 3D on a TV.
 
Good ridance!
Curves belong to racing tracks, women and maybe extremely large TVs.
 
3D still has a place. Avatar and Guardians of the Galaxy come to mind. With a projector set for 3D and sync glasses it is still the best viewing experience. Yes it takes a little effort. Oh wait lets not put any effort into anything.
Forgot the Hobbit.
 
It could be my imagination, but I think curved screens are also more susceptible to glare.
 
Has anyone used a curved screen as a PC monitor? When I first saw them I thought that might be the only useful application. Perhaps an ultrawide that curved around to fill your periphery.

As a TV I'd agree they are just a gimmick. I checked out a Samsung curved TV at Best Buy and then bought a Sony Bravia. I can't understand why anyone would want a curved TV.

The 34" and 38" curved ultrawide monitors are good for folks that can only have or only need one monitor. I wouldn't say the curved screen on them is a "gimmick" but I wouldn't call it a necessity either. I have a feeling most people could work and play just as well on a flat ultrawide.

Now for TVs the curve is a total gimmick unless you happen to be fortunate enough to be able to afford one of those truly massive monsters. And as for 3D, good riddance. I'm not even a fan of it in theaters ("I get to pay more money to see the movie dimmed to the point where all the colors are washed out and come out of it with a headache? Where do I sign up?").
 
I guess I'm a weird one that actually likes 3D sometimes (not always) if the movie actually benefits from it. LG has really been the main one that has promoted the passive approach that doesn't require the expensive shutter glasses and I prefer that. I have a ~5 year old Panasonic TV that is based on an LG panel and we use the 3D glasses every now and then. Of course the big down side for the passive approach is that it essentially cuts the resolution in half, but at the right size of panel and viewing distance, that's less of a hit than one might expect.

"Nobody in the TV industry is supporting 3D now that the focus is on HDR."​

Not a correct statement. LG still has passive 3D available on some of their new models, I just think they are promoting other features of the televisions when talking about them. Just go to the tech specs on this model and you'll see it supports 3D and they include two pairs of glasses. http://www.lg.com/us/tvs/lg-OLED77G6P-oled-4k-tv
 
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It could be my imagination, but I think curved screens are also more susceptible to glare.

I thought the opposite. Every now and then I go to Best Buy to drool over the OLEDs. I noticed I was staring a little harder at the curved TV and thought it looked slightly better and the best I could figure was it had less noticeable glare. Other factors may have come into play, like the flat TV was displayed at about 7 feet up and the curved TV was more like 4 feet up.
 
I would say Avatar is the only film I'd rather watch in 3d but that's about it.

I just got a new 50" 4k tv and the last thing I was looking for was 3d support. I didn't even think about it.
 
I wouldn't buy a curved T.V. but I do have a pair of curved 24in Samsung monitors on my desk. They are fine for most tasks, I do have a slight issue with distortion when using CAD programs, probably going to add a 29in ultrawide, or another 24in in the middle to fix that issue.
 
I also wouldnt buy a curved TV. My TV is used to entertain several people at once. My monitor is meant to entertain me. The curved nature pretty much singles out group entertainment.
 
In all seriousness Pacific Rim 3D was absolutely awesome. One of my favorite movie experiences. The CGI was already impressive but man did 3D really bring out some of the phenomenal detail ILM put into it. But that's an experience I'd prefer to have only at the movies unless I've already spent way too much on crafting an in-home theater.
 
I wouldn't buy a curved T.V. but I do have a pair of curved 24in Samsung monitors on my desk. They are fine for most tasks, I do have a slight issue with distortion when using CAD programs, probably going to add a 29in ultrawide, or another 24in in the middle to fix that issue.

I think you are coming from the right place, but I could not imagine just how bad it would be to have 2 small monitors curved like a bowl, sitting next to each other on my desk...

You really need 2 setups for a home setup. You need to separate your normal desktop based stuff from your entertainment based stuff.

A good setup would be a very large (for immersion) 4K HDR ultrawide for entertainment, and then standard large flat monitor(s) for everything else.
 
My 2011 era TV is 3D, and the 3D part was kinda cool with the demo videos, but it is "only" 55", and at the far end of a long living room, so the effect was sort of lost unless sitting close. I also think it was one of those techs that doesn't have universal use, like I don't need to watch the evening news or Man v. Food in 3D. That would be kinda weird. The glasses were also kind of annoying, even tho mine was passive (and came with 4 pairs of glasses).

Curved screens are cool but they are driven by where they are placed. Like a computer monitor over a certain size, if I am sitting at "typical monitor distance", I would probably prefer curved. TVs, I'm not so sure. They would have to be REALLY big to warrant the curve.
 
So, if you happen to be the owner of a curved screen 3D capable TV, take good care of it. For all you know, in a few decades it’s possible it’ll be considered a priceless historical artifact

In a few decades 3D will be a fad again. It's cyclical.
 
I thought the opposite. Every now and then I go to Best Buy to drool over the OLEDs. I noticed I was staring a little harder at the curved TV and thought it looked slightly better and the best I could figure was it had less noticeable glare. Other factors may have come into play, like the flat TV was displayed at about 7 feet up and the curved TV was more like 4 feet up.
I think neither of you is right. ;)

Seriously, glare is about TV and light placement. Frankly, if you see significant glare on any TV in a Best Buy, it means that whomever designed the lighting and placement of the TVs did a crappy job. Since one of the significant advantages of going to a brick&mortar retailer is seeing products before buying, they should be going to significant effort to ensure their products are being displayed to their best advantage.

When placing a new TV in the home, you should be looking at your light sources to see if you can change their placement (for rooms with fixed lighting, look at adding a new light while turning off the fixed light when watching TV), reducing their output (new bulbs and/or dimmers), or adding diffusion (lampshades and other types of covers). For windows, adding some kind of covering may be necessary.

There's nothing that special about my 32" Samsung TV but I get no glare for 90% of the day and 100% of the night because the light in my living room is either indirect or situational (reading lamp). Even the 10% of the day when the sun is hanging directly in line with my windows can be eliminated if I close the shades.
 
3D works much better in the theatre with the polarized lenses instead of the shutter glasses.

Not for everyone. I've tried watching 3D movies in the theatre and I hate it.
The motion is blurred to the point it is hard to follow what is going on.
It's only when the action is slow/stopped that I can appreciate the 3D.
 
I love my curved screen for computer use, but strongly prefer a flat screen for TV viewing.

I don't give a damn about 3D.
 
Passive 3D on 4K screens is a must-have feature for all 4k+ sets. They should simply include it, period, it looks great and it's there...if you feel like it. Active Glasses need to go the way of the dinosaur, that is true. But Curved Screens? The only reason you want one is they are going to look so obscenely *retro* in a few years every hipster pad will want one, like a Lava Lamp.
 
3D still has a place. Avatar and Guardians of the Galaxy come to mind. With a projector set for 3D and sync glasses it is still the best viewing experience. Yes it takes a little effort. Oh wait lets not put any effort into anything.
Forgot the Hobbit.


LOL..No

Stupid gimmick is Stupid. It doesn't and hasn't made any movie better ever.

Back OT:

Never thought there was any purpose behind curved TV's. I do like the experience they offer as a PC monitor because it lets you get a larger screen in a smaller space, but even then pretty subjective. Good riddance to 3D for a few more years, at least until they try and revive it again. Next on the list of stupid gimmicks is Video gaming VR.
 
Has anyone used a curved screen as a PC monitor? ...

I've been using a SAMSUNG C27F398 for almost 3 months now.

It's definitely a lot nicer for gaming than my old flat screen monitor.

Took a little 'getting used to' while surfing, etc. but now I don't notice the curve so much when doing that.
 
Has anyone used a curved screen as a PC monitor? When I first saw them I thought that might be the only useful application. Perhaps an ultrawide that curved around to fill your periphery.

As a TV I'd agree they are just a gimmick. I checked out a Samsung curved TV at Best Buy and then bought a Sony Bravia. I can't understand why anyone would want a curved TV.

It'd have to be super extra wide to replace eyefinity and surround setups. That would be the ideal use imo. No more seams for that racing rig.
 
It'd have to be super extra wide to replace eyefinity and surround setups. That would be the ideal use imo. No more seams for that racing rig.
True that. It's strange to me that double and triple screens haven't been put into a single bezel with separate inputs. It would be a very specialized setup (especially at first) but that would be cool as shit.
 
True that. It's strange to me that double and triple screens haven't been put into a single bezel with separate inputs. It would be a very specialized setup (especially at first) but that would be cool as shit.
I'd say a monitor that has interlockable sides with removable bezel is more realistic, than three displays put into one case.

I was thinking about getting a curved TV as a monitor, but not yet gone trough with the idea.
 
As a monitor, I would like it. Having three 30s in surround 2d is a pain in the ass to see the edges of the two end monitors to the point it's not even viable to put important things on the sides. I've tried putting a 2650x1600 in portrait and I'd have to get a curved screen to even attempt to make it usable for programming. 1440p in curved goodness.

Except Winamp. Because that's still a thing that I refuse to let go until I die.
 
What we need is holograms. This stereo 3D was a flickering scam since day one. I still can't believe motherfuckers fell for it, especially for games lol. Some people seemed to enjoy their 30 Hz flicker fests though.
 
I'd say a monitor that has interlockable sides with removable bezel is more realistic, than three displays put into one case.
I don't see why a triple monitor is unrealistic. Ideally, such a multi-screen would have specialized software to match visual quality across the monitors but apart from that it's just a matter of building the case in which to place the screens.

And, again, it would be specialized hardware that would come with a premium cost but it's something that could absolutely be done with existing tech.
 
I am not going to do it because I already own a good 28 inch Samsung 4k monitor. That said, it seems to me that a 3 x 23 or 24 inch curved screen setup with small bezels would work well for a AMD Eyefinity setup. Anyone have any experience in that setup?
 
Thank god that this curved screen nonsense is coming to an end. It can ONLY make sense on screen sizes and rooms much bigger than any normal consumer would ever have, or what is technically possible to produce by the manufacturer. It would be of use in a medium to large cinema, not somebodys living room, and even then, it distorts the picture for anyone not sitting in the center of the screen.
They have tried the vertical screens curved, they haven't tried the horizontal curve yet, could still be in the works. Someone in marketing still wants to keep his job.
 
True that. It's strange to me that double and triple screens haven't been put into a single bezel with separate inputs. It would be a very specialized setup (especially at first) but that would be cool as shit.
Its coming, the fold up screen.;) If it becomes a hit in the cell phone market.
 
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