# 3D TV....not bad!



## pistolpete52 (Sep 3, 2010)

Last Sunday I went to HH Gregg to look for a new Smart TV. They had quite an assortment, but most of them were a little over my budget. As I thanked the clerk for spending time with me, he says, "Hold on a minute" and asked if I'd be interested in an "open box" TV. He showed me a 51" Samsung 3D Plasma Smart TV. I told him that I wasn't really interested in 3D. But he gave me a price that I absolutely could not refuse.

I figured that the 3D function would get little to no use as it didn't really interest me. But today, that all changed. I watched the Ohio/Penn St. game on ESPN 3D and it was amazing, even though it felt weird sitting here with 3D glasses on.

I don't think that there's a huge future for 3D. But, if there is, I'm ready for it. I'm hoping that a few more channels will be added, but I won't hold my breath.


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## shaun-ohio (Aug 24, 2002)

yeah would be nice to have the premium movie channels that are filmed in 3d would be shown in 3d when we record them


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## dpeters11 (May 30, 2007)

I think that's going to become common at least for a while. I have no interest in 3D, but the good sets have it anyway.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

dpeters11 said:


> I think that's going to become common at least for a while. I have no interest in 3D, but the good sets have it anyway.


I've tried it a couple times on my plasmas and I got kinda sick. Used to get the same feeling on my ship from time to time when it was rolling.

Rich


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## Crow159 (May 23, 2007)

I was really hoping that when Directv expanded the HBO and MAX on demand selections that they would get some 3d titles like cable offers.

Hopefully, in the future, it will be available.


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## joed32 (Jul 27, 2006)

Rich said:


> I've tried it a couple times on my plasmas and I got kinda sick. Used to get the same feeling on my ship from time to time when it was rolling.
> 
> Rich


Active 3D does the same thing to me but I can watch passive with no problems.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

joed32 said:


> Active 3D does the same thing to me but I can watch passive with no problems.


I think my Panny plasma only does active. Didn't buy it to see 3D, but I had to try it. I've been plagued with headaches for quite a while and perhaps that's the reason it made me kinda sick.

Rich


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## mjwagner (Oct 8, 2005)

Right now the only 3D content that DirecTV has is channels 103, 104, 106, and 107. Hopefully they will add more at some point.


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## randyk47 (Aug 21, 2006)

I really only have usable vision in one eye so 3-D anything is lost on me. As others have mentioned many of the top TV's today are 3-D capable but it's not a feature we'll be using.


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## RBTO (Apr 11, 2009)

Directv 3D is a moot point for me unless DTV revisits their HR20 inability to provide it. BD is a much better media anyway and I get all of my 3D fix from my BD player. I'm not willing to give up my HR20 because it has off-air capabilities and I have a backlog of shows & movies on disk that I'd be unable to play otherwise.

Passive is definitely better and more manufactures are offering it in their sets.


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## RAD (Aug 5, 2002)

RBTO said:


> Directv 3D is a moot point for me unless DTV revisits their HR20 inability to provide it.


That's not going to happen, hell they don't even want HR20's back anymore.


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## joed32 (Jul 27, 2006)

The HR20s just don't have the capability to do 3D, I still have 2 of them and they're great but I have to use a 21 and a 24 for the HD channels. Funny thing is that with Whole Home you can use a receiver to have 3D record on an HR 20 and it does record it but in order to watch it remotely you need to use a newer model.


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## n3vino (Oct 2, 2011)

The best way to get the most from HD or 3D, is via Blue Ray.


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## dpeters11 (May 30, 2007)

"RBTO" said:


> Directv 3D is a moot point for me unless DTV revisits their HR20 inability to provide it. BD is a much better media anyway and I get all of my 3D fix from my BD player. I'm not willing to give up my HR20 because it has off-air capabilities and I have a backlog of shows & movies on disk that I'd be unable to play otherwise.
> 
> Passive is definitely better and more manufactures are offering it in their sets.


They'll add 3d support about when they add whole home to the H20. You can get something like an H25 (or H24 if no SWM) and use it as a kind of front end to the HR20. I did that for a while.


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## RBTO (Apr 11, 2009)

dpeters11 said:


> They'll add 3d support about when they add whole home to the H20. You can get something like an H25 (or H24 if no SWM) and use it as a kind of front end to the HR20. I did that for a while.


I'm counting on that!:grin:

Seriously however, I really don't care since, even if DTV 3D were available, I'd still use BD exclusively for my 3D viewing content. It's full HD 3D and it's Blu-Ray. I have way too many movies on my HR20 to give it up, and I'm pretty happy with its performance otherwise. I can get OTA without a box add-on, too.


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## dismayed (Dec 24, 2011)

You think ESPN 3D is something, you should rent Avengers 3D on PPV. All I can say is WOW.


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## uscboy (Sep 5, 2006)

3D does have a future. Life is in 3D... years from now we'll have wall sized displays that are glasses free 3D. There are more things to be discovered than things that have so far been discovered. Other display technologies no one has even pictured yet.

But yeah, it's weird sitting and watching with glasses on and the light loss is frustrating, but the depth on some of the shots even on just a 60" set is very cool.


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## TBlazer07 (Feb 5, 2009)

RBTO said:


> Directv 3D is a moot point for me unless DTV revisits their HR20 inability to provide it. BD is a much better media anyway and I get all of my 3D fix from my BD player. I'm not willing to give up my HR20 because it has off-air capabilities and I have a backlog of shows & movies on disk that I'd be unable to play otherwise.
> 
> Passive is definitely better and more manufactures are offering it in their sets.


 If you call DirecTV and tell them you have 3D TV they will provide a 3d capable receiver AND an AM21 OTA box at no charge and with no contract change (at least they have done so in the past). When I got my set last year I watched 1 3D show than sold the 3 free pair of glasses and the 3D Avatar DVD that came with it for almost enough to pay for 1/2 of the TV. :lol:


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## lesz (Aug 3, 2010)

I've had my 3D TV for almost a year, and I've found that 3D has very little appeal to me. 

First, only limited types of content, to me, provide for an enhanced viewing experience in 3D. You almost need to have programming that includes lots of times when things are "jumping out of the screen toward you" to make the 3D experience something special. When I've watched the programming on the channels that DIRECTV provides, I generally find nothing in the programming content or the way in which it was produced that makes showing it in 3D something "special". 

Also, I've tried watching a number of the ESPN simulcast games, including last year's national championship football game in 3D. Every time I've started to watch one of those games in 3D, I've ended up switching over to the 2D version within about 10 minutes. Sports, to me, doesn't translate well into 3D. Most of the the 3D sports that I've tried to watch almost comes across like cartoonish cardboard cutouts. 

Then, there is the issue of the glasses. Not only do I feel uncomfortable wearing them, and the light loss, to me, reduces the quality of the picture on the screen, but, even with glasses, unless you are sitting in a limited area in relation to the screen, the 3D effects are somewhat diminished. 

I have no question that 3D TVs will play a bigger role in the future, but the technology has a long way to go before it would be something that I'd have more than minimal interest in viewing.


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## Red Orc (Oct 11, 2011)

dpeters11 said:


> I think that's going to become common at least for a while. I have no interest in 3D, but the good sets have it anyway.


I didn't have any interest in 3D either...until I saw my first 3D movie and then I knew I had to have it.

I just got a Samsung 50" lcd a few months ago and I love it.

Haven't watched it yet but I just got the Avengers yesterday...$37 for a 3D bluray regular bluray DVD _and_ digital copy.


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## Beerstalker (Feb 9, 2009)

Red Orc said:


> Haven't watched it yet but I just got the Avengers yesterday...$37 for a 3D bluray regular bluray DVD _and_ digital copy.


Man, you need to shop around, you got ripped off. I got the same thing for $20 from Amazon. Looks like it's bumped up to $30 now, but still quite a bit less than the $37 you paid. Unless you got some collectors edition that I don't know about.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001KVZ6HK/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00


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## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

uscboy said:


> 3D does have a future.


3D may have a future, but if the persistent rumors are true, ESPN 3D doesn't.

Here's a link to a pretty scholarly AP article on the state of 3D:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/enter...1fe492-096e-11e2-9eea-333857f6a7bd_story.html


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## HoTat2 (Nov 16, 2005)

TBlazer07 said:


> If you call DirecTV and tell them you have 3D TV they will provide a 3d capable receiver AND an AM21 OTA box at no charge and with no contract change (at least they have done so in the past). When I got my set last year I watched 1 3D show than sold the 3 free pair of glasses and the 3D Avatar DVD that came with it for almost enough to pay for 1/2 of the TV. :lol:


Also I saw in the latest tech notes that both the HR20-100s and -700s are on the "non-recover" list which means you may keep them after the free upgrade.

DIRECTV doesn't want them back, though you will have to keep them activated on your account to watch the recorded shows on them of course.


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## Red Orc (Oct 11, 2011)

Beerstalker said:


> Man, you need to shop around, you got ripped off. I got the same thing for $20 from Amazon. Looks like it's bumped up to $30 now, but still quite a bit less than the $37 you paid. Unless you got some collectors edition that I don't know about.
> 
> http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001KVZ6HK/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00


No It's the same thing You got Bluray 3D Bluray DVD & digital copy.
How much did you pay for shipping?


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## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

Avengers is $29.99 and ships free (slow).

http://www.amazon.com/Marvels-The-A...349467932&sr=8-1&keywords=avengers+3d+blu-ray


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## jford951 (Oct 6, 2008)

"Red Orc" said:


> Haven't watched it yet but I just got the Avengers yesterday...$37 for a 3D bluray regular bluray DVD and digital copy.


I bought 3d 4 disk version at target with a bonus target extras disk for 19.99


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## Red Orc (Oct 11, 2011)

jford951 said:


> I bought 3d 4 disk version at target with a bonus target extras disk for 19.99


Man Beerstalker was right. I got (*&*^%$^%$*) ripped off!
Bloody Best Buy!


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## bong... james bong (Sep 10, 2012)

3d has never worked on my tv. i have a samsung plasma, are there plans to add tv models?


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## RAD (Aug 5, 2002)

bong... james bong said:


> 3d has never worked on my tv. i have a samsung plasma, are there plans to add tv models?


What model TV do you have and how do you have it connected to your receiver? They really don't add models, the TV needs to support the side-by-side 3D format.


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## Crow159 (May 23, 2007)

I originally didn't get the TV I have for the 3D but I have found that I enjoy some of the shows and sports that I've watched in 3D. I just wish there were more movies to watch, besides the 3D PPV movies. I bought The Avengers in 3D and it was very impressive.

I would love HBO and Starz to allow Directv to have the 3D versions of their movies to be on the On Demand channel like cable has.


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## bong... james bong (Sep 10, 2012)

RAD said:


> What model TV do you have and how do you have it connected to your receiver? They really don't add models, the TV needs to support the side-by-side 3D format.


it's a samsung model pn59d550. I've watched 3d movies on it before, but when i put a 3d channels i just get side by side screens of the same thing. as far as how its connected to the receiver i don't know, I've just signed up a month ago. How should it be connected?

edit: nvm i got it to work just have to fiddle with the 3d settings. kuuulll


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## JMCecil (Jan 20, 2007)

dismayed said:


> You think ESPN 3D is something, you should rent Avengers 3D on PPV. All I can say is WOW.


hmm ... I have the 3D blu-ray and all I can say is meh. The picture is dark. Action scenes are hard to follow and 3D doesn't add anything tangible to the movie. We'll probably never put on the 3D glasses again.


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## captaink5217 (Sep 20, 2011)

"JMCecil" said:


> hmm ... I have the 3D blu-ray and all I can say is meh. The picture is dark. Action scenes are hard to follow and 3D doesn't add anything tangible to the movie. We'll probably never put on the 3D glasses again.


I didn't think that 3D on avengers was that great either, I have a Panasonic GT30 plasma.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

captaink5217 said:


> I didn't think that 3D on avengers was that great either, I have a Panasonic GT30 plasma.


I can't stand watching 3D on my Panny plasma. As soon as you put the glasses on, the picture dims and I find the whole experience sickening. I didn't buy it for the 3D feature, I had looked at many Panny plasmas with 3D capability in stores and didn't like what I saw, I bought it for the great 2D PQ.

Rich


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## RAD (Aug 5, 2002)

Rich said:


> As soon as you put the glasses on, the picture dims and I find the whole experience sickening.


My Samsung automatically adjusts the picture to make it brighter when it detects 3D programming to help compensate for that problem.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

RAD said:


> My Samsung automatically adjusts the picture to make it brighter when it detects 3D programming to help compensate for that problem.


Is that a plasma or an LCD? Every Panny plasma I looked at in stores did the same thing. Never looked at the Sammy plasmas.

Rich


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## RAD (Aug 5, 2002)

Rich said:


> Is that a plasma or an LCD? Every Panny plasma I looked at in stores did the same thing. Never looked at the Sammy plasmas.
> 
> Rich


Plasma, PN51D8000.


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## Hoosier205 (Sep 3, 2007)

"Rich" said:


> I can't stand watching 3D on my Panny plasma. As soon as you put the glasses on, the picture dims and I find the whole experience sickening. I didn't buy it for the 3D feature, I had looked at many Panny plasmas with 3D capability in stores and didn't like what I saw, I bought it for the great 2D PQ.
> 
> Rich


Then you need to properly calibrate one of the 3D picture modes.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

RAD said:


> Plasma, PN51D8000.


You'd think Panasonic would have done the same thing, wouldn't you?

Rich


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## Hoosier205 (Sep 3, 2007)

"Rich" said:


> You'd think Panasonic would have done the same thing, wouldn't you?
> 
> Rich


No. There isn't a single display on the market today that comes with properly calibrated picture modes. It varies from panel to panel. The closest you can come to that is the THX modes and even those need some tweaking.


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## fleckrj (Sep 4, 2009)

I have three Pannys, and out of the box, the picture is horrible. When properly calibrated, I have yet to find a TV that surpasses the Panny.

3D will always be dimmer than 2D, because you are only seeing one-half of the display at a time; however, properly calibrating the TV will compensate for that. I have no problems watching 3D on my Panny. I have not watched The Avengers, but Avatar in 3D on my Panny is spectacular.


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## fleckrj (Sep 4, 2009)

One other thing about calibrating the Panny is that each input must be calibrated separately. It took me a while to figure that out. I calibrated my TV using the HDMI-1 input, and I could not figure out why DirecTV looked so much better than the same program OTA. Theoretically, OTA should be slightly better than DirecTV, but that was not my experience. That was when I discovered that the antenna settings were still the out-of-the box settings, and not the settings that I had for HDMI-1.


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## Haviland (Jul 21, 2007)

I've had a Panasonic Viera 42" LCD passive 3D for a few months. Main justification to upgrade from my few year old Vizio 42" was lower power consumption ... abt 100 watts instead of 300 watts. In my poorly insulated RV the extra heat during CA's hot summer makes a BIG difference in comfort ... air conditioner now is able to handle 100 degree days.

3D was an attraction not so much to watch movies or sports, but to try some 3D shooting myself. As an avid photog I checked out 3D years ago to find it took a bunch of expensive gear and display capabilities were very limited. At the time it was not a speciality I wanted to invest in.

So along with the new Viera TV I bought a Panasonic 3D1 camera. It's a small dual lens "point & shoot" camera that takes HD 3D video and high quality 3D stills. (It also does 2D.) I've been very pleased with it's ease of use. I shoot then take the SD card from the camera and insert it into the TV and the list of stills ans/or video pops-up automatically ready to view.

Results ... are AMAZING. Subject was my very popular hummingbird feeder. So realistic was the results that when they were zipping around in the middle of my living room I hesitated reaching for the remote because I was afraid I'd scare them!

One thing I would like to have seen in 3D from DirecTV was some of the Summer Olympics coverage, but a power line short "zapped" the HDMI out on my HR24-200 and one of the HDMI "ins" on the Vizio. Gotta use HDMI output from the DVR to show 3D. I'm using component connection now from the HR24 and it's fine for picture quality. A fix for the HDMI would probably require changing out the box and the delema is having a bunch of stuff on the hard drive I don't wanna give-up. As for the Olympics I'm hoping Panasonic will come out with a nicely edited 3D highlights Blu-ray ... reasonably priced.

Here's one of my 3D1 camera setups and a couple shots of the 42" Viera's screen. (Which don't really do it's picture justice.)


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

fleckrj said:


> One other thing about calibrating the Panny is that each input must be calibrated separately. It took me a while to figure that out.


Took me a while to figure that out too. I've got three HRs and a BD player hooked up to my AVR system and that allows me to only use one HDMI output. I haven't played with the other outputs since I don't use them.



> I calibrated my TV using the HDMI-1 input, and I could not figure out why DirecTV looked so much better than the same program OTA. Theoretically, OTA should be slightly better than DirecTV, but that was not my experience. That was when I discovered that the antenna settings were still the out-of-the box settings, and not the settings that I had for HDMI-1.


....:lol: That must have driven you nuts. Did you try making sense of the manual? Or calling Panny for support? Both seem to be kinda fruitless endeavors.

Rich


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

fleckrj said:


> I have three Pannys, and out of the box, the picture is horrible. When properly calibrated, I have yet to find a TV that surpasses the Panny.
> 
> 3D will always be dimmer than 2D, because you are only seeing one-half of the display at a time; however, properly calibrating the TV will compensate for that. I have no problems watching 3D on my Panny. I have not watched The Avengers, but Avatar in 3D on my Panny is spectacular.


I've tried, but I get kinda queasy watching it and I doubt if any calibration will help that. I didn't get the TV for 3D, I got it for the great 2D picture. Having been in the Navy, I avoid things that make me feel seasick.

Rich


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

Haviland said:


> I've had a Panasonic Viera 42" LCD passive 3D for a few months. Main justification to upgrade from my few year old Vizio 42" was lower power consumption ... abt 100 watts instead of 300 watts. In my poorly insulated RV the extra heat during CA's hot summer makes a BIG difference in comfort ... air conditioner now is able to handle 100 degree days.
> 
> 3D was an attraction not so much to watch movies or sports, but to try some 3D shooting myself. As an avid photog I checked out 3D years ago to find it took a bunch of expensive gear and display capabilities were very limited. At the time it was not a speciality I wanted to invest in.
> 
> ...


Huh. The Panny LCDs get terrible reviews, but you don't seem to be reflecting those reviews. Does that LCD also get really dim when you go to 3D?

Rich


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## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

fleckrj said:


> Theoretically, OTA should be slightly better than DirecTV, but that was not my experience.


There are two things that may be behind this:

1. DIRECTV is getting their signal before it hits the broadcast multiplexer.
2. You prefer the way that DIRECTV contours/paints its feed (gamma, saturation, contrast) to that of the network feed.


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## fleckrj (Sep 4, 2009)

harsh said:


> There are two things that may be behind this:
> 
> 1. DIRECTV is getting their signal before it hits the broadcast multiplexer.
> 2. You prefer the way that DIRECTV contours/paints its feed (gamma, saturation, contrast) to that of the network feed.


Neither. It was because the settings on the TV for the antenna input were very bad. I had used the Ovation Avia DVD to adjust the settings for the HDMI-1 input, but did not realize that only affected that input and not all of the inputs. Once I figured that out and used the same settings for the antenna input that I had for the HDMI-1 input, I could not tell the difference between OTA and DirecTV. Before I figured that out, the OTA picture had the white level too high, the black level to high, and the sharpness too high. The picture was washed out.


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## Laxguy (Dec 2, 2010)

harsh said:


> 2. You prefer the way that DIRECTV contours/paints its feed (gamma, saturation, contrast) to that of the network feed.


I have never seen any difference in the feeds from NBC, CBS, ABC, Fox or PBS with respect to those settings; DIRECTV® broadcasts are exactly the same settings.

What experience of yours indicates that DIRECTV® messes with gamma or saturation, much less contrast??


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## swissin (May 25, 2006)

My kids love Directv 3D.


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