Samsung has revealed the thinking behind its rather heavy handed warnings on its 3D TV range, which note that pregnant woman, children under six and those who have had a drink or two should avoid the TV's 3D functionality.
At an event in London showcasing the company's 2D to 3D conversion system, Samsung R&D chief Simon Lee explained the reasoning behind the rather scary warning note:
"We started looking at 3D in 1999 at our advanced technology centre. Since then we have tried out the 3D TVs on a number of people, looked at lots of diagnostics and what we have found is that each person's ability to recognise the 3D effect is slightly different."
Look into my eyes
It seems that most of us, 98 per cent, can see 3D fine but there is a two per cent out there who doesn't see 3D properly. The reason? Well, it's all to do with the eyes.
"It depends on the distance of your two eyes. Most people have a 2.5-inch distance and they won't have a problem but small children who have a smaller distance may not see the 3D image properly."
So that's the reason for the warning against very small children viewing 3D for long periods but what about those who are pregnant? Well, it seems that reasoning is not so clear cut – it's more about emotions that anything physical.
"Watching a 3D movie is a lot more realistic that watching something in 2D, so people who have medical conditions or are pregnant may find the images slightly disorientating."
Warning! Warning!
Having warnings on home entertainment products is not new. If you were to read the warnings given out with videogames every time you were to play them, it would put you off picking up your controller for life and Samsung knows this but it says it has a responsibility, explaining: "This is a new generation of TV watching and as a manufacturer we have to be responsible."
Saying that, it was also mentioned that the company was looking into the tone of the warnings, noting: "We are trying to modify the warning labels as they do sound too serious."
