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From Investor's Business Daily - Imax, Other Channels Brighten Picture For 3-D TV

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#1 ·
By PATRICK SEITZ, INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY

Quote:


Visitors wore active-shutter glasses to view Samsung Electronic's 3-D TVs at a preview last year in New York.



Despite disappointing sales last year, 3-D TV is gaining ground as TV vendors switch to marketing 3-D as one feature of new high-definition televisions, rather than the be-all, end-all reason for buying.


Lack of 3-D content slowed adoption of the technology last year. But more 3-D content is becoming available, either as cable and satellite TV channels or Blu-ray Disc movies and video games. And consumers are beginning to shoot their own 3-D video with affordable camcorders.


Walt Disney's (DIS) ESPN 3D sports channel began broadcasting 24 hours a day in mid-February. Sony (SNE), Discovery (DISCA) and Imax (IMAX) launched their 3net 3-D channel around the same time. Cable operator Comcast (CMCSA) and satellite broadcaster DirecTV (DTV) have 3-D channels. More are expected by year's end.


Research firm In-Stat expects the number of 3-D TV channels worldwide to pass 100 by 2015, from just 23 today.


"Clearly, lack of content has been holding the market back," said Chris Chinnock, president of market research firm Insight Media. "But one or two years into the HDTV transition there wasn't much programming either."


Some of the same content providers that pioneered high-def are leading in 3-D programming, including ESPN and Discovery.


"It took about seven years to reach 11% (household) penetration with HDTV," Chinnock said. "3-D TV is probably on a little bit faster pace, but still it's not a fast pace."


DisplaySearch expects 6.6 million 3-D TVs to ship in North America this year, up from 1.4 million last year. That would be 16% of the more than 40 million TVs expected to be sold in North America.


DisplaySearch is targeting 15.2 million 3-D TVs shipping in 2012 in North America, up 130%.


"We're getting to the point where we're crossing over from the tech enthusiasts and early adopters into the early mainstream," said DisplaySearch analyst Paul Gagnon.


Some 3-D TV obstacles are less of an issue this year, he says. For example, there's more content and lower prices, he says.


Another obstacle involves the special electronic glasses that viewers must wear. Today these battery-powered "active shutter" glasses are specific to each television. But manufacturers are working to make them compatible with each other's sets. Active shutter glasses aren't cheap, at roughly $150 per pair.


Complicating matters is the introduction this year of 3-D TV sets that use polarized glasses. They're cheaper, but these sets don't offer a full HD 3-D picture.


Retailers are going to have to do a better job educating consumers about 3-D TV, says Phil Lelyveld, a program manager at the Entertainment Technology Center at the University of Southern California.


"The biggest holdback (to adoption of 3-D TV) is bad demos and lack of clear information and messaging in the retail outlets," Lelyveld said. "The consumer electronics stores are not doing a good job of telling people why they would want it.


"They also are not clearly articulating that a 3-D television set is just a really good HDTV that happens to also do 3-D. Some consumers think they'd only be buying a 3-D set and it's no good for anything else."


Retailers do a decent job demonstrating 3-D TVs playing 3-D movies such as "Avatar," but they fall short in two other key areas — sports and video games, Lelyveld says.


Stores should set up special areas to show off 3-D video games on Sony's PlayStation 3 console, because hard-core gamers often splurge on the latest technology, Lelyveld says.


Sony is gearing up to better promote 3-D gaming this year, says Dan Race, spokesman for Sony Computer Entertainment America. Sony is launching seven 3-D games this year, including "Killzone 3," "MLB 11: The Show," "Socom 4: U.S. Navy Seals," and "Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception."


"The gaming industry definitely drove HD adoption and we expect to see the same growth trend for 3-D," Race said. By year's end, PlayStation 3 will have 30 3-D games available from Sony and third-party publishers, he says.


3-D is becoming a standard feature in larger screen HDTVs, says In-Stat analyst Michelle Abraham. Manufacturers have been bundling 3-D glasses and 3-D Blu-ray Disc players with TVs, but they might start selling those separately to reduce the sticker shock.


"Whether somebody goes to buy a 3-D TV set or not, it's going to be a feature that they get with their set," she said. "It's like picture-in-picture. You wouldn't buy a TV for that feature but it has it."


Consumer electronics makers such as Panasonic (PC), Samsung and Sony are hoping that 3-D TV can spur a technology upgrade cycle. They'd like to see consumers spring for new 3-D TVs, active shutter glasses, Blu-ray Disc players and camcorders.
http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnal...o-Brighten.htm
 
#2 ·

Quote:
"The biggest holdback (to adoption of 3-D TV) is bad demos and lack of clear information and messaging in the retail outlets," Lelyveld said. "The consumer electronics stores are not doing a good job of telling people why they would want it.


"They also are not clearly articulating that a 3-D television set is just a really good HDTV that happens to also do 3-D. Some consumers think they'd only be buying a 3-D set and it's no good for anything else."

Quoted For Truth . . . and a shame it is.
 
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