Skip to main content
The VergeThe Verge logo.The Verge homepage
The VergeThe Verge logo.

    Vizio installs 33 3D TVs, creates LA's first 3D sports bar

    Vizio installs 33 3D TVs, creates LA's first 3D sports bar

    By David Pierce, editor-at-large and Vergecast co-host with over a decade of experience covering consumer tech. Previously, at Protocol, The Wall Street Journal, and Wired.

    Source Vizio | Via Acquire

    |

    Share this story

    South Bar LA
    South Bar LA

    3D TVs haven't caught on in people's homes like some manufacturers and content providers expected, so they're bringing technology where the people are: bars. In the UK, 3D pubs have become a popular place to gather and watch sports when you can't go to the match itself, and now the phenomenon is coming to Los Angeles. Sports bar South teamed up with Vizio to bring a legion of 3D-capable displays (33 in all) to the nightlife crowd. The new "nerdiest bar ever" has 3D TVs at the bar, a lounge filled with 3D TVs for a theater-like experience, and a 3D gaming room.

    Passive 3D glasses, which patrons are handed as they walk in the door, are the key to the system — they're much cheaper and simpler than active glasses, and $99 3D glasses that require batteries would be a non-starter. The whole system, including even the lighting in the bar, is controlled by a Vizio tablet. It's a clever way to try and get more people to experience 3D, but we're left with only one question: how does 3D hold up after six beers, when you're seeing double anyway?