While the Dish Network and some other cable and satellite providers have announced that they are moving ahead and offering 3DTV channels beginning in 2010 and 2011, others look at the industry and predict that any further action will take a number of years. A recent study by the University of Southern California’s Entertainment Technology Center in concert with the Consumer Electronics Association found that only about 25% of internet users were considering buying a 3DTV in the next three years.
Analyst Bruce Leichtman, of the Leichtman Research Group, believes that one of the major roadblocks to the adoption of 3DTV will be the price of peripherals. While $50 for a pair of 3D glasses is not a major investment for small households, the price does increase a fair amount when you consider that everyone in your home, guests included, will need glasses to watch 3DTV. Otherwise, those without glasses will be stuck watching the blurry image that 3D appears as when glasses aren’t used.
While a BBC article cited a survey that forecast 3.4 million 3D TV sets will be sold in the United States alone this year, analyst James McQuivey disputes those figures. The vice president and principal analyst at Forrester Research, posts on his blog that not even a million US homes will have 3D TV in 2010?.
There are still many questions that need to be answered, but one thing is certain, you will never see TV the same again.