I have been hearing a lot about three-diemensional TV sets for quite a while now. It seems like everytime I look on one of my gadget sites, some big company or small company that promises that it will be big has some television set or monitor that can achieve what every geek wants: 3D images in a controlled 2D space.

A few months ago, I heard about this monitor that used the same technology that is in 3-D postcards to create its 3-D images. They believed it would be excellent for advertisers, so their logo could shoot from the screen and really attract attention. Unfortunately, I can’t seem to find the article that I plucked this from, so I am assuming that this tech never got off the ground. When I saw the YouTube clips, the images that it showed me of the 3-D monitor used special effects to show the 3-D effect. Apparently, it’s the only way to show a 3-D effect on a 2-D screen.

The latest development is a 20-inch LCD from Philips. The Philips 3D TV was put during InfoComm at the Anaheim Convention Center from June 19-21. There, viewers could see stunning 3D commercials based on 3D animations and video. All this tech is part of Philips WOWvx technology to create a better picture.

It looks as if Philips intends to use its product for point-of-sale advertising. In other words, something to attract customer’s attention. So something like a razor or other product will literally jump out of the screen. Of course, it seems a waste of time to make a product like a 3D display and use it only for advertising.

I mean, everyone wants 3D viewing. If the technology is there, then let us use it. The problem is, our current system of filming is set up for 2-D. I’m not certain how this 3-D tech without glasses works, but I’m guessing if you want a 3-D effect, you have to create it specially, like a special effect. You can’t just poke at a 3-D camera lens. As you may recall, the only thing that kept 3-D movies from becoming tedious was that objects had to constantly be jumping out of the screen.

I’m guessing we are still a long way from holographic technology, where we see moving images as 3-D as ViewMaster stills. I suppose that once we get to that stage, filmmakers will have to adapt to the changes as we viewers will come to expect more.