The number of people with 3D TV may be growing, but what are they watching, and will there be enough to keep them satisfied?
For many audiophiles it was hearing the first few bars of Money for Nothing blaring out of showroom speakers that sold them on the idea of trading in their old record player for a compact disc sound system. The track, along with an iconic MTV video that came to epitomise the pastel-shaded excesses of the 1980s, went on to help the Dire Straits album Brothers In Arms become the first million-selling CD and secured the new music format a place in the world’s living rooms.
Content can make or break a new format. From the latest video games consoles and home audio systems to new ways of recording and watching DVDs, new technology depends on content for its survival. So is there enough content to make 3D television a success?
Next month, as Sky launches its 3D service, its opening weekend will show golf’s Ryder Cup in 3D and Monsters vs Aliens and Bolt, two high-profile 3D films.
Sky was also at the forefront of the switch to high definition (HD) television in the UK – and there are parallels to be drawn between the launch of the two services. When Sky launched HD four years ago it had just a handful of shows; a few months after launch only 38,000 people were actually watching. It has not been until the last two years that HD has really taken off, helped by sales of HD-ready flatscreen TVs for the football World Cup and by the launch of BBC HD programming. According to figures from Informa Telecoms & Media, there were 2m “active” HD households in 2008. That figure is now almost 5m.
The research house, however, expects take-up of 3D to be significantly slower. It suggests there will be about 10,000 “active” 3D households by the end of this year, rising to more than 1.5m by 2015. Interestingly, however, the number of “3D-ready” homes is set to rise from 69,000 to almost 4.5m in the same period, suggesting that while the new crop of TVs that people will buy will be capable of receiving 3D channels, the numbers watching them will take time to grow.
That gap between 3D-ready households and 3D active users can only be closed by the creation of compelling content. But how much content is needed? For now, 3D remains an event technology, rather than an everyday technology, not least because people still need to wear glasses to see a 3D picture. But the useage will grow, even into areas as mainstream as news reporting.
As Sony’s Buzz Hays said at a recent seminar: “There’s a truth to a 3D image that we will never get from 2D, especially if you look at news photography. When we photograph war in 2D, it’s interpretation; regardless of how the filmmaker is trying to present the facts, it’s a filter. Once you present the same images in 3D there’s a very visceral response to it, very truthful and honest, to the point where I think there’s a certain responsibility now with filmmaking, that you have to regard the fact that you’re about to show people something very real.”
In the meantime, is there a specific event that will flip the switch for 3D? There is a distinct possibility that the 2012 Olympics will be broadcast in 3D by the BBC. Such a confluence of a compelling one-off event, with the UK’s most trusted broadcaster, could give 3D TV that all-important Money for Nothing moment.
The Black Eyed Peas perform a mini-concert in Times Square to help unveil a 3D LED TV. Photograph: Evan Agostini/AP
link to original post: http://www.guardian.co.uk/life-in-3d/the-future-for-3d