Samsung Electronics Co., the world’s largest flat-screen television maker by shipments, said glasses-free three-dimensional TV sets won’t be a common household item in the next five to 10 years because technical hurdles still exist before such TVs can be mass-produced at an affordable price.

B.K. Yoon, Samsung Electronics’ visual-display president, said at a forum that while 3D without glasses is possible on cellphones and other small mobile devices, there are still challenges for 3D TVs.

However, rival Toshiba Corp. of Japan earlier this month unveiled the world’s first glasses-free 3D liquid-crystal-display television sets, less than a year after most set makers launched 3D television sets that require the cumbersome eyewear. The company has said it plans to start selling the glasses-free TVs in December.

The cutthroat nature of the television-set industry is marked by precipitous price declines every year and innovations that threaten to cannibalize promising technologies even before companies can cash in on years of research and development.

As 3D content becomes more prevalent in movies and video games, electronics companies are trying to do away with the glasses that help create the illusion of depth.

Many analysts agree with Samsung, noting that it will likely take at least five years to bring the glasses-free 3D TVs into living rooms at an affordable price.

Television makers are ramping up for a holiday shopping season during which 3D television sets are expected to be a major driver of sales. Research firm DisplaySearch said it expects global shipments of 3.4 million 3D television sets in 2010, accounting for roughly 5% of the total flat-panel set market.

Samsung said earlier that its 2010 sales of 3D TVs may outpace last year’s sales of its more traditional offerings even as it struggles to cope with the surge in demand.

Samsung’s hometown rival LG Electronics Inc. launched its 3D TVs in March and said it expects its sales of such TVs to reach more than one million units this year.

By JUNG-AH LEE And DAISUKE WAKABAYASHI

original post: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704361504575551882741451978.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

(Phil Lelyveld question: what new descriptive language do you think will be needed for 3D content?  Submit your thoughts below.)

WASHINGTON: A bill that will reinstate mandatory video description is scheduled for a presidential signing ceremony tomorrow. The 21st Century Communications & Video Accessibility Act brings back FCC rules requiring a verbal play-by-play of programming for the blind.

Boston PBS member station WGBH-TV developed descriptive video service in the 1990s. The service is carried in the Second Audio Program channel as an option, much the way closed captioning can be turned on and off.

The bill on the president’s desk requires the FCC to issue a rulemaking to reinstate its video description regulations, which first went into effect in 2000 amid objections from Hollywood and broadcasters. A federal court struck them down in 2002.

The video description rules required the top four network-affiliated TV stations in the top 25 TV markets to provide at least 50 hours per quarter of prime time and/or children’s programming with video description. Cable and satellite operators with at least 50,000 subscribers were subject to the same requirement. All other TV stations and cable operations were required to pass through the service if they had the technical capability to do so.

The Video Accessibility Act directs the FCC to update its list of the top 25 TV markets, and the top five national nonbroadcast networks with at least 50 hours per quarter of prime time programming. Other provisions in the bill cover cell phone communications and Internet use.

“When signed into law, this legislation will give individuals with vision or hearing loss improved access to television programming, smart phones, the Internet, menus on DVD players, program guides on cable TV, and more,” the American Foundation for the Blind said in a press release.

The bill requires wireless providers to make Wi-Fi phones, Web browsers, text messaging and e-mail on smart phones fully accessible to people with vision and/or hearing impairment. It covers emergency broadcast information and allocates $10 million a year for developing assistive technologies.

“Once enacted, this legislation will ensure that the 25 million Americans with vision loss, and the millions more with other disabilities, can fully take part in the digital era,” said Paul Schroeder, vice president of the AFB. “It will improve job opportunities, education opportunities, and more.”

President Barack Obama is set to sign the 21st Century Communications & Video Accessibility Act tomorrow in the East Room of the White House at 2 p.m. Eastern. He’ll be joined by Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), who introduced the legislation in June 2009. —Deborah D. McAdams

original post: http://www.televisionbroadcast.com/article/107486