CES: 3D TV Will Try, Try Again

Industry to take another run at third dimension this year

By Todd Spangler, Multichannel News -- Broadcasting & Cable, 1/2/2011 9:00:00 PM

If at first you don't succeed ... well, try those funny-looking glasses on again.

Following the mega-hype surrounding 3D at the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show, sales of 3D-capable TV sets closed out the year with a whimper and content was scarce. But the industry will be back in Las Vegas for round two this week, to try to break through to the third dimension.

"The 3DTV manufacturers can't afford for it to fizzle away - you'll see more aggressive pricing," Technicolor chief marketing officer Ahmad Ouri said. "What remains constant is the lack of 3D content."

That's bound to change in 2011. Discovery Communications, Sony and IMAX - which announced a partnership to create a 24-hour 3D channel at last year's CES - are expected unveil the official name for the network and announce initial affiliates in Las Vegas this week, according to industry sources. (The companies declined to provide further details ahead of the launch.)

The Culver City, Calif.-based venture, which has been doing business with the placeholder name "3D Net," has already announced parts of its programming lineup. That includes several original series produced in native 3D on bull riding, motocross, jet-skiing and other extreme action sports, plus IMAX's Into the Deep 3D, Sony's animated Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs and documentaries like Magnificent Desolation: Walking on the Moon 3D.

HBO is also getting into the three-dimensional action, with plans to debut a slate of 3D movies on-demand with Comcast and Verizon Communications' FiOS TV this week (see HBO 3D VOD story, p. TK). And In Demand in January will premiere several 3D VOD titles, including Shrek Forever After, Despicable Me and Alpha and Omega.

3D ECOSYSTEM

"In 2011, we will witness the beginning of the emergence of a 3D ecosystem for home entertainment," said Shahid Khan, chairman of digital-media measurement firm MediaMorph. But "3DTV will not become mainstream for a number of years," he added.

A trend that could spur uptake: 3DTVs that support cheaper - and more comfortable - passive, polarized glasses, like those used in movie theaters. The first generation of 3D sets used battery-powered active-shutter glasses, which are pricier (at up to $150 a pop) and bulkier, but kept the costs of the sets themselves lower.

Vizio is expected to show off the 65-inch Razor LED LCD HDTV with passive glasses. The "Theater 3D" technology produces "clear, flicker-free 3D images that are noticeably brighter than conventional 3D," the vendor claims. The set, with four sets of 3D glasses, will sell for an initial list price of $3,500.

Toshiba, for its part, has developed an "autostereoscopic" consumer 3DTV television, which means it requires no headgear at all. But the sets are considerably more expensive than glasses-based 3DTVs and require you to sit fairly still, lest you destroy the three-dimensional illusion.

The Regza GL1 is being introduced initially in Japan, priced at about $1,440 U.S. for a 12-inch model and $2,880 for the 20-inch version.

Meanwhile, Broadcom will demo a supercharged set-top system-on-a-chip, with more than twice the horsepower of previous generations, to deliver full-resolution 3DTV, as opposed to today's "frame-compatible" format that requires no new video-delivery infrastructure. "Operators are supporting 3D today on MPEG-4 devices, but there's strong demand and pull for full 3D," Broadcom senior director of marketing for set-top-box products John Gleiter said.

So far, 3D television hasn't knocked viewers' socks off. Fewer than 1% of U.S. households have an HDTV set that is 3D-capable, while 61% have at least one high-definition TV set, according to a November 2010 survey conducted by Leichtman Research Group. Almost 80% of adults in the U.S. have heard of 3DTV, but of those, just 8% are "very interested" in getting a 3D television set.

SCREEN FLINGS

Delivering video to iPad-like tablets, smart phones and other devices also will be a big story line at CES, with Cisco Systems, Motorola, SeaChange International and Technicolor each teeing up demonstrations in this domain.

Motorola Mobility is expected to launch a tablet computer, based on the "Honeycomb" version of Google's Android operating system designed for tablet devices. In addition, the company will showcase a device to let pay TV subscribers stream video from set-tops to mobile devices within the home.

SeaChange will team up with set-top box and chip makers that have integrated its VividLogic Tru2way software stack, showing how TV operators can deliver video to "every screen" in the connected home.

And Technicolor will feature a software-based "multi-device user experience" centered around providing simple content navigation with social-networking capabilities. The solution also promises to let consumers get video on any connected device in the home, regardless of media source.

"We believe the timing is right for network service providers," Technicolor's Ouri said. "What they're all going to be shopping for this CES is, how do they compete with the over-the-top guys and cut down on the cord-shaving?"