11:08 PM
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T-Mobile and LG's new G-Slate tablet has some solid features, but its defining one, 3D, is poorly executed and uses 3D technology out of the 1950s.
LG’s G-Slate has a lot going for it, but 3D ain’t one of them. Though it’s tech specs are decent and its 8.9-inch size is interesting, but after spending some time with the new tablet, I don’t see the value in its most talked about feature: the 3D. Unlike its LG Revolution (LG Thrill 3D on AT&T) handset, which has a glasses-free 3D screen and 3D camera, the G-Slate’s implementation of 3D is bewildering. If a 3D tablet came out in the 1950s, this would be it.
Though the G-Slate has two side-by-side cameras capable of recording stereoscopic images, it lacks a screen capable of displaying them back, likely due to the cost of such a display. While I can understand why LG wouldn’t include a glasses-free or passive 3D screen (passive glasses are the kind you use in movie theaters), their insistence on including 3D playback has brought an old friend back: anaglyph 3D. Remember those terrible red and blue glasses? Yeah, this tablet comes with a pair of those. It’s the only way to view 3D content on the device. You can also record using a single camera or both cameras side-by-side, which shows two separate images/recordings to the left and right of one another. Representatives told me that recording in side-by-side is probably the best method if you hope to output to an external device like a TV. I’m told they can turn the image into 3D, but I cannot verify it. Unless you plan on recording your home movies using technology best found inside a cereal box, I don’t recommend the G-Slate for 3D.
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