Last week Cyberlink announced that PowerDVD had become the first software player to receive certification for 3D Blu-ray. Coming from the official industry body, the Blu-ray Disc Association, this means that the software player complies with the 'Profile 5.0' specifications governing the commercial 3D Blu-ray movies that will start to appear sometime later this year.
This certification does come with a caveat. Support is only included in the top end PowerDVD 10 Ultra 3D edition (the most expensive part of the lineup with a cool $110 RRP). It isn't available right now though, it will be coming in a free "Mark II" upgrade to the software. This is due in the somewhat wishy-washy 'soon' timeframe.
Final piece in the 3D puzzle
Once this hits it means that the home PC will be ready for the 3D content. It is the final piece of a puzzle that includes the necessary processing power in the form of current graphics cards, 120Hz refresh rate monitors, Blu-Ray drives and now the software to make it all happen.
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| PowerDVD 10 promises to play standard DVDs in 3D, as well as 3D Blu-ray playback |
Cost of entry, still not cheap on a PC
Unfortunately this isn't exactly a cheap way to get into Blu-ray 3D. Using NVIDIA's 3D Vision as an example we got a rough idea of the cost of entry. To enable 3D Blu-Ray playback one needs a 3D Vision kit ($285), compatible graphics card (the cheapest supporting card is the GeForce GT 240 which retails around $120), Blu-ray drive ($125), PowerDVD 10 Ultra 3D edition ($110) and a compatible 120Hz screen (22in models start around $400).
Put all this together and you have a pricetag of over $1000 just for the bare minimum hardware needed to playback the handful of discs that will appear this year with 3D Blu-ray support. Remember that this doesn't include the costs involved in building the PC itself, just ensuring that the graphics are up to scratch. For a truly enjoyable experience one would want a bigger screen and most likely a more powerful graphics card.
Those glasses
Oh, and don't expect to share the 3D thrills with a friend - each 3D Vision kit only has one set of glasses so while you may be ducking and weaving as Hollywood generated awesomeness comes flying out the screen, your friends will be driving themselves insane watching the screen generate unwatchable alternating left and right frames.
So while the support for 3D Blu-ray is now there on PCs, it will be quite some time before it becomes an affordable and convenient way of getting into the next big home theatre craze.
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