James Cameron’s Avatar has become the highest grossing film of all time, and there has been some residual fallout from its massive box-office success, most notably all those fan boys and girls who are now contemplating suicide in order to be re-born as a Na’vi on Pandora a la Jake Sully. One effect of the film is a littler saner, and will be coming to households worldwide sometime between now and 2154, television in the third dimension.
Many of the top television manufacturers have already begun work on bringing the 3D experience to the home market, and now some of the major television networks and content producers are jumping in too.
Last month’s International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas featured many, if not all, of the top television manufacturers rolling out televisions with 3D capabilities.
One of the highlights was Panasonic’s TC-PVT25, an HD television that may be the first available TV with 3-D capabilities. Panasonic has made some serious noise about a spring release for their newest set, and are also the only major manufacturer of 3D televisions besides Sony to commit in writing to the nagging problem of 3D glasses. The Japanese company included in its launch a pair of nifty space-aged glasses.
Panasonic may be the first 3D TV to hit the consumer market, but the set that attracted the eyes of Jeffery Katzenberg, the K from Dreamworks SKG, is Samsung’s new 9000 series. Samsung is looking to produce their TVs in a range of sizes from 19 inches to 65 inches, and have staked the success of their product on the fact that it is barely a third of an inch thick.
One of the major features of the 9000 series is a proprietary device in the TV that has the power to turn run-of-the-mill 2D fare into state-of-the-art 3D entertainment. Toshiba, like Samsung, also has a new TV with similar technology, and when the time comes for 3D TVs to be loosed on the public, because of the limited amount of 3D content available, it’s likely Samsung and Toshiba will have an early lead over the rest of the field.
But it’s content that will drive the 3D TV market, more 3D TV shows means more 3D TVs sold for everyone, and that’s one reason Katzenberg has attached himself to Samsung’s ultra-thin 9000. Dreamworks, Technicolor, and Samsung have teamed up to help bring more 3D content to their TVs, and they aren’t the only producers of content with an eye on the 3D market.
Although Avatar has helped bolster the market for 3D films, 2010 is going to be a banner year for 3D films with such blockbusters as Sherk Forever After, Toy Story 3, and the highly anticipated Piranha 3-D, it’s sports broadcasters that are making the first big push into the 3D television market.
ESPN is hoping to launch a network in the third dimension sometime in the next calendar year, which would broadcast, among other things, the 2011 BCS Championship Game, the Summer x-Games, and up to 25 of this summer’s World Cup matches.
The 2010 World Cup in South Africa may be the big proving ground for 3D content. Britain’s SkyTV has their sights on a sports-based 3D network, and have already premiered the service on January 31st in pubs in the UK, giving soccer, or football, fans a chance to see Manchester United take on Arsenal in full 3D.
Like ESPN, Sky is making a big push for 3D broadcasts of the World Cup, one of the globes most watched sporting events. Sony is planning to film all 64 matches in 3D, and if Sky can work out a deal with the BBC and FIFA, soccer’s international governing body, there is a chance that people in the UK will be enjoying their opening match against the United States in three dimensions without having the inconvenience of flying to South Africa.
As with all new technology, the first wave of 3D televisions will be expensive, very expensive, but like all new technology after a little while, the price will go down. If sports in 3D catches on, and people like Jeffery Katzenberg and companies like Sony and Dreamworks continue to invest millions upon millions of dollars, there is a good chance that in the next decade everything from American Idol to reruns of Mork and Mindy will be available in 3D, now if only we could find a way to make our ponytails synch up with animals what a wonderful world it would be.
