Aaron, I take it back…kind

Aaron, I take it back…kind of.  As soon as I posted my last reply, I remembered that before I updated the firmware on my new TV, I connected the PS3 to it and tried the 3D disc.  After several seconds a message came on that said, “This disc has determined that either the TV or the bluray player is not capable of 3D playback.  Please make sure that your equipment is capable and up to date and try again.”  It was something along those lines.  So you are right.  If you were trying to play it in a secondary room where the player and/or TV are not 3D then you wouldn’t be able to get past that message.

But I was having some issues with the PS3 and/or the TV that day.  So when I was trying to show off the 3D to my wife that night I realized that it wasn’t even in 3D; I felt pretty stupid when I realized what we were watching was normal, LOL.  But in my defense it had been a long day hooking everything up and trying to get everything working correctly.  So I guess it “fooled” the disc into thinking everything was 3D capable, but then when it started the PS3 didn’t output it in 3D because of whatever issues it was having.  I guess that couldn’t be re-created on a normal basis.

Then this leads me back to a problem.  When I read that 3D discs were watchable in 2D with no loss in quality I thought that was good news, and I thought that if it’s only a small difference in price that I could buy a 3D version and not have to worry about only being able to play it in one place.  But if companies are going to disable the 2D playback then what’s the point of it being backward compatible?  You won’t know until you try a disc whether you can play it in 2D or not, unless you happen to read about it.  And I’m not going to buy it on the “chance” that it will play.  As long as they keep putting out combos with the 2D and 3D bluray included, then it won’t matter.  But I’ve got to believe that at some point we will stop seeing these Bluray + DVD + Digital Copy (+ 3D Bluray).  Then you will be forced to choose.