The IFA show is the world’s largest consumer electronics trade fair. It is also a chance for the big electronics companies to show off their latest wares. This year the Berlin show has seen various announcements and gadgets but one of the hottest topics has been the rise of 3D. Consumers may still be waiting for a product range and the level of interest is still a matter of some debate but a number of big electronics companies are working on 3D televisions and 3D gaming technology. They predict 3D will be the next big thing.

Sony had a PlayStation 3 set up at the show with a 3D TV and a set of glasses which allow the user to experience Wipeout in 3D. The high definition footage came from a normal PS3 and it was the prototype Bravia 3D TV and the glasses that were creating the 3D effect. This means it should work with all the existing games and people who crave that 3D experience will only have to shell out for the TV and glasses, although they aren’t likely to be cheap.

Panasonic, Philips, JVC, nVidia and Toshiba were all showing off 3D capable products. The technology seems close to hitting the mass market and we could see it on TVs, computer monitors and even laptops within the next few years. There are of course a few problems still to work out, not least of which is the lack of agreement on a standard format. There are at least three kinds of different glasses needed to work with the different 3D technologies and another format war like the HD battle which Blu-ray won seems likely.

The success of some recent 3D movies seems to have encouraged the electronics companies but the effect is still very limited and the fact it requires the viewer to use glasses is still a big turn off. Many people complain of nausea and headaches after wearing the glasses for prolonged periods and it is far from a certainty that the mass market wants this technology right now.

It is also worth pointing out that a 3D effect is possible now using glasses and current HD TVs which have a high enough refresh rate. People aren’t going to be keen to shell out for new electronics if they still have to wear glasses and I think that’s probably the killer. The added immersion it could bring to gaming however is obvious and I think gamers would be much more likely to adopt the technology even with glasses. For normal TV and even home movie viewing I can’t see this being popular.