63% of Consolers Think Firmware Makes TVs 3D

According to a recent survey, 63 percent of console owners believe the only thing stopping them from viewing 3D content is a firmware update.

Speaking at GDC Online Michael Cai of research company Interpret revealed that a shocking number of people believe that their TV is capable of playing 3D content and that it just needs to be enabled via a firmware update. With the aim of getting a better idea of how interested people are in 3D, Interpret asked 1,500 consumers aged 12-65 (online survey) a series of questions about 3D. Interpret's survey yielded some strange, and some not so strange, results.

An example of the not so strange: 70 percent of those surveyed said price was the most prohibitive thing about 3D. Further, almost half of the participants said they didn't want a 3D TV because they didn't want to have to wear the dorky glasses. All fairly predictable results, we think. However, one statistic gleaned from the survey is definitely surprising: 63 percent of console owners think a firmware update will enable 3D in their homes.

While it sounds crazy that console owners, generally a pretty technically-inclined group, believe a firmware update would turn their television into a TV capable of displaying 3D content, it's easy to see where the confusion comes from. This past summer Sony released a PS3 firmware update adding support for 3D games. At the end of September, the company released another update for 3D capabilities; this one added support for 3D Blu-rays. With all this talk of 3D support through firmware updates, PS3 users may have gotten their wires crossed.

Read the full story on Gamasutra.

_{Source: Interpret via Gamasutra}