Why 3D TV is an expensive non-starter
3D movies in theaters – brilliant. 3D television shows at home – pointless. And surely too damn expensive to ever take off.
I’m a recent convert to watching 3D movies in the theater. Avatar took my virginity in terms of the new generation of 3D films. And it was stunning. However, I still had to wear glasses, and I still had to take them off every few minutes to avoid the mother of all headaches.
Now, electronics manufacturers are trying to kickstart the 3D TV market, with CES 2010 dominated by 3D television sets. Sony is actually betting the farm on its 3D TV lineup.
Unfortunately, I cannot see 3D TV ever truly taking off.
For starters, there is the price. The sets are going to cost a small fortune, and even the glasses (yes, you’ll need to wear glasses all the time at home to enjoy 3D) will set you back around $150. Which is sheer madness.
The prices of the hardware will obviously drop. And that will coincide with 3D broadcasts actually starting. But even then I cannot for the life of me see anyone spending an evening in front of the box wearing a pair of overpriced 3D specs. Movies and sporting events, sure, but sitcoms and reality TV shows? No thanks.
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March 10th, 2010
Will the public stand for another fracturing of the TV market? We already have SD and HD versions of many channels, now 3D version too? I don’t think the public is going to stand for watching 3D without the glasses, so we’ll need both 2D and 3D HD stations? No thanks.
July 27th, 2010
I think 3D will take off, the fact is films, sports and games are better in 3D and more and more companies are spending big bucks developing 3D. I agree 3D channels may be a pain for the end user but I expect that some people will be willing to pay for it and so it will slowly take off.
November 7th, 2010
I remember paying 1200$ for my first VHS vcr, I was amazed by it, eventually, the prices came down, same goes for plasma tv, they we’re very expensive, now you buy them for few hundreed dollars. 3D is only a new technology, a maturing one, eventually it will get better and cheaper and we will ask ourselves how we managed without it!