Sights from the Intel Developer Forum

Intel CEO Paul Otellini speaks in the cavernous Moscone West conference hall at this week's Intel Developer Forum.

(Credit: Stephen Shankland/CNET)

Who else but Intel could get away with a mobile of faux silicon wafers as decor? Real wafers these days are 300mm across, but some of these were much larger.

(Credit: Stephen Shankland/CNET)

It takes a lot of people to register the deluge of IDF attendees and give them their shoulder bags.

(Credit: Stephen Shankland/CNET)

George Schweitzer, president of CBS marketing, announced a widget to help people find TV shows they want. He jokingly called the image behind him as his 'man cave.' (Editor's note: CNET News is published by CBS Interactive, a unit of CBS.)

(Credit: Stephen Shankland/CNET)

A demonstration of live 3D video required the IDF audience to don RealD's 3D glasses.

(Credit: Stephen Shankland/CNET)

Ever wonder what big-screen 3D TV looks like up close? This image of an NFL cherleader (look at it from a good distance away) shows how alternating rows of LEDs are staggered. Special glasses mean people's left eyes see only one set of rows and right eyes see the other; the brain combines the views to add depth.

(Credit: Stephen Shankland/CNET)

3ality Digital showed off its double-barreled videocamera for capturing live 3D video. The company supplies technology that keeps the two Sony cameras aligned precisely to sub-pixel accuracy even when the cameras are panning, zooming, and refocusing, said 3ality Digital CTO Howard Postley.

(Credit: Stephen Shankland/CNET)

[Mergatroid Mania]

I still think 3D is just a gimmick. I for one will not be replacing my TV just for 3D.

[Shankland]

In my opinion it need not be just a gimmick any more than the advent of color film or TV was. It can be just another cinematographic tool to help guide people's attention as they watch and potentially engage them more. There will be plenty of in-your-face inanity, too, and hardware makers will use it to try to get us all to buy the latest thing, of course, so just because it can be used for what I see as good uses doesn't mean we also won't have to put up with a lot of hype, marketing blather, and other such annoyances. In any event, you probably have a good while before anything for the home becomes affordable.

[Forked_Tongue]

It'll revolutionize sports and porn. :)

[Jeremy Chappell]

@Shankland: 3D will not be able to replace normal 2D. The problem is the eye itself, you probably think that looking at something displayed in 3D is like looking at the "real world" it's very different. The eye constantly readjusts its focus depending on how far away something is, with artificial 3D the eye gets this wrong. Normally your eye gets a cue from the stereoscopic effect, the bigger the offset the closer something is. In artificial 3D when something is displayed getting closer the eye tries to readjust then must undo this as the focus shift odd the display. If you think about it if the 3D display is 6 feet away, your eye must focus 6 feet away to resolve the image, no matter how close objects are being displayed. Add to this that film makers often use depth of field effects to direct the viewer gaze inside the frame (we might look over someone's shoulder at something, it's in focus everything else isn't) this really causes problems in 3D as there is already a problem with focusing.

This is why people often report "a headache" after watching a 3D film, for most people about an hour and a half is about all they can take without ill effects. Of course, this can me much shorter if the filmmaker often moved things in and out of the shot, or longer if they resist that (though then the 3D effect is somewhat blunted).

[Adam_in_Maryland]

I saw my first 3D movie 20 years ago. Figure out how to do it without the glasses and I'll stand up and cheer.

[slickuser]

contacts!!!

[Jonathan Machen]

Nice angle on the photos, Stephen!

[Shankland]

Thanks. For you EXIF-deprived pixel-peepers out there who ask me about this, I shot these with a Canon 5D Mark II with Canon EF 70-200mm F4/L IS and Sigma 12-24mm F4.5-5.6 EX DG Aspherical HSM. Most of the people shots were at ISO 1600, but the crowd with 3D glasses was at ISO 6400.