If you’re like me, many of you are probably still making up your mind about 3D.
It’s a technology that’s actually been around for quite some time, causing many “demo headaches” over the years, in its different incarnations.
This past CES, however, manufacturers and content providers registered seemingly sudden unbridled support of 3D, virtually forcing those of us in the CEDIA channel to begin taking it much more seriously as a business opportunity.
Whether you love it or hate, you can’t deny the revenue potential for your company.
My very unscientific research indicate that while many average consumers know that 3D video available, most don’t care much about it or are simply put off by the idea of having to wear expensive glasses to see it.
I think that 3D is still a confusing mess of competing formats and glasses, which makes the broad penetration of the technology a challenge.
Eventually we’ll see 3D technology requiring no glasses. Until that mass-market tipping point occurs, however, it will be up to early adopters with money, who will dive right in no matter what. Where will they go for help? The CEDIA channel of course.
That’s why a recent Residential Systems magazine-sponsored CEDIA PowerHour webinar from Insight Media’s Chris Chinnock was so timely. Chinnock went into great detail, describing the competing formats, offering descriptions of what content producers are developing, games manufacturers are creating, and what distribution companies are planning.
Chinnock reminded webinar participants that this is, in fact, the fourth incarnation of 3D. “Maybe it will stick this time,” he said, noting that James Cameron set the bar high for 3D quality with the release of Avatar, but that Clash of the Titans was rushed to market and its conversion from 2D to 3D was panned by audiences. Nonetheless, he said, movie studios have 56 planned titles for 2010, 33 planned titles for 2011, and 14 planned titles for 2012.
What’s most important to the CEDIA channel, Chinnock noted, is that Hollywood wants to bring 3D to the home, because 50-60 percent of their income comes from non-theatrical sources like DVD and Blu-ray.
The key takeaways for CEDIA integrators, he concluded, are to make sure the video display that you’re selling to your client offers the best quality for 2D content first and foremost, and 3D secondarily. He also said, that now is the time to be the go-to guy for 3D. Visit http://www.cedia.net/emerging_trends/ to visit an archived version of Chris Chinnock’s Preparing for 3D Now! webinar.
