If you own a Sony Playstation 3 with a built-in Blu-ray player you’ll soon be able to watch 3D movies on the game console. Sony has confirmed that a firmware update to allow support for 3D Blu-ray discs will be made available in September.
The announcement follows another recent firmware update that supports the playing of 3D games on the PS3. Sony had promised 3D Blu-ray support to consumers by the end of the summer, and it appears that they will deliver just in time.
Details of the firmware upgrade were revealed by Sony executive Mike Hocking in an interview with the gaming website CVG.
“At the last count we've got 35.8 million PlayStation 3s out there,” Hocking stated. “That means there's an instant market of around 36 million 3D-ready PlayStation 3 consoles. The upgrade basically makes every PlayStation 3 HDMI 1.4 compatible - that's the standard that governs 3D displays.”
Hocking is also promising that another upgrade will follow to support 3D photos on the PS3, but no time frame was specified for that release. Also mentioned were future plans to support 3D content from YouTube and Sony’s PlayTV service.
Before getting too excited about viewing hours of 3D content on your PS3 this fall and winter, you should realize that there are very few 3D titles available on Blu-ray disc. In fact, the only 3D movie currently available for Blu-ray in retail stores is the 2009 computer-animated family comedy Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. Additional Blu-ray 3D movie titles have been reported, but official confirmation is lacking and most reports state that titles will only be available as part of bundle offers and not individually on retail shelves.
At least this firmware release will make it much more affordable for those who are interested in viewing 3D movies at home. Standalone 3D Blu-ray disc players currently retail between $199 to $400, which is quite expensive for the limited titles available. When you factor in the expensive glasses required to view 3D content, it seems that there is a great deal of investment required for very little return.
A specific date has not yet been announced for the firmware update.
