As cutting-edge as the word "3D" may sound, what GMA used to pull this stunt off was an older version of the technology. According to the instructional video, you'll need to create your own pair of anachrome/anaglyph (red and blue) glasses to see the 3D effect. Anachrome glasses filter the image to create a primitive 3D illusion.
While we have nothing against anachrome 3D, the way the show was promoted as a first in Philippine TV was clearly intended to one-up the competition without actually one-upping them.
To create modern 3D material, you'll need multimillion-dollar equipment and a means to broadcast the feed/data. What PP did was to create sets of images, 1 red and 1 blue, and smash them together into a single analog feed. TV stations in the US have been doing this since the early '90s, and even today, big American cable networks have only begun experimenting with and/or deploying real 3D broadcast systems.
3D has come a long way, especially with IMAX/3D theaters and modern 3D TVs proliferating. And more importantly, the 3D glasses they require cannot be made out of folders and cellophane alone.
Theaters use polarized glasses that separate stereoscopic (or images caught with 2 lenses that mimic the eye) frames while 3D TVs use battery-powered active shutter glasses to achieve the same effect. What's more, the colors are much more vivid and the depth of the images are much more realistic than what anachrome 3D could ever achieve.
We have to give credit to Party Pilipinas for trying to jump in on the 3D bandwagon, but as far as the program making it to the tech record books, well, we'll have to disagree. Hard.
Party Pilipinas' in 3D may be a first in the country, but it's not the kind of first that we've been waiting for.
