On Tuesday, the same day Samsung unveiled the pricing and availability of its new lineup of 3D TVs for the U.S., Sony revealed that its 3D sets will arrive June 10, at first in Japan and soon after in other regions. Rival Panasonic’s first 3D TVs begin selling Wednesday in Best Buy stores in the U.S. LG’s 3D lineup arrives in May, while Vizio’s is set for August.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-31021_3-10466032-260.html

In the last 48 hours leading up to the CES hype-a-thon, a constellation of companies has announced plans for the third dimension:

* The ESPN 3D network will premiere in June at the FIFA World Cup, and will carry at least 85 live events in the first 12 months, with Sony as a key sponsor;

* Discovery Communications, Sony and IMAX will jointly launch a 24-hour linear 3D service to launch in 2011 with movies, documentaries, children’s programming and other content;

* DirecTV plans to debut three 3D channels in June that use RealD’s video-encoding format and will be sponsored exclusively by Panasonic;

* CE companies including Sony, Panasonic, Samsung, LG Electronics, Toshiba and Vizio announced 3D televisions and 3D Blu-ray Disc players-with Panasonic bragging about its world-beating hugest HD 3D plasma display with a gargantuan 152-inch screen size.

Obviously, the availability of 3D content will be a key driver for people to buy 3DTV sets in the first place. About 25% of U.S. Internet users surveyed plan to buy a 3DTV within the next three years, according to a recent survey conducted by the Consumer Electronics Association in conjunction with the University of Southern California’s Entertainment Technology Center. Of those, 67% said they will be more likely to buy one if they can watch 3D television programs over the air or through cable, satellite or telco TV service.

But is all this just a gimmick?

HD more clearly applies across the board to all video, while 3D doesn’t lend itself as naturally to every type of programming. Sports and movies are events, but does anyone want to see, say, Headline News or Seinfeld reruns in 3D?

On 3D, seeing is believing, according to the CEA/USC survey. Before experiencing 3D firsthand, roughly 16% of U.S. Internet users surveyed had the impression 3D was “gimmicky.” However, only 8% thought so after seeing 3D for themselves.

In addition, 43% of those who have seen a 3D movie or event in the last year say they would prefer to watch movies and television shows in 3D instead of 2D, according to the CEA/USC survey.Still, that’s hardly a groundswell of excitement for 3D. Someone might argue that they don’t need HD, or don’t care about it, but you would probably be hard-pressed to find someone who thought HDTV was a parlor trick.

In any case, it will certainly take a while for 3DTV to hit mass-market status, and one of the gotchas could be the cost of the 3D glasses, said Bruce Leichtman, president and Principal Analyst of the Leichtman Research Group. Consumer uptake will be inhibited if they cost $50 or more apiece, he said.

As Leichtman noted, Discovery and ESPN were the first two networks to dip their toes into HD — and it took several years for viewers to arrive in significant quantities.

“Did they have tremendous success [with HD]? Not necessarily at first,” Leichtman said. “But when it started taking off, they were in a position to succeed. Those companies learned that being the leader has its advantages.”

Some other data points from the CEA/USC study:

· 33% of those who have seen a 3D movie or event in the last 12 months report they would like to watch all television programs in 3D, while 36% say the primary reason to buy a 3DTV is to play 3D video games in their home and 65% say the primary reason to buy a 3DTV is to watch 3D movies in their home.

· 69% of those who have seen 3D movie or event in the last year believe a 3DTV should have a screen of more than 40 inches (compared with 49% for those that haven’t seen a 3D show/event in the last year).

· 57% of those planning to buy a 3DTV within the next 3 years consider themselves an early adopter of technology.

Shanghai citizens are lucky to be the first Chinese people to watch 3D TV programs. The 1st of May is the day, when Shanghai TV company “Wenguan” is opening the first digital channel, which will open to the spectators the higher reality of sensation.

As the company workers said the new channel’s principal topics are documentary films about nature and animal world, entertaining news, like celebrity life, and sport events.

All these programs are developed using special technique, and for obtaining stereo effect the subscribers will need to use special glasses.

Editor’s Note:
Glasses needed…but let’s face it.  We won’t have 3D televisions in houses until we have quality 3D TV programming.  Let’s see how quick it develops in China now that they have their own 3D TV channel.

The first 3D TV entered the Japanese market. It is based on TriDef technique, which builds an image for each eye. The kit includes special glasses, combining the image and providing 3D effect. Without glasses the image doubles. The TV provides 3D image not only in special 3D programs, Japanese television started to produce, but, as developers said, in general 2D programs. In this case the 3D effect is not so noticeable.

The special 3D programs are translated by several cable TV companies. They are released 4 times a day and shot considering 3D viewing. Despite 3D technique is known for a long time already, this is first full-grown 3D television project in the world. The price of such a TV is $3960. the producer is Hyundai company.

French soccer fans will be able to watch some matches of the next season in great 3D-HD quality.

Soccer (Futbol) in 3D

The British technological magazine TVB Europe informs, that the biggest European operator company Orange, offering broadband services, is going to deliver 3D HD video to its subscribers. Philippe Delbary announced the company will need 6-12 months of experimental period to develop the final technique.
Nevertheless, Philippe Delbary, commented that by 2011 the 3D HD television can likely conquer the market, being assisted by growing the number of 3D movies, made in Hollywood.

The BBC TV company has already experimented with 3D format during live broadcast of sport events.

EDITOR’S NOTE:  Well, we haven’t really seen that many 3D movies in Hollywood yet.  Not sure I’m buying his confidence.  It will happen but he makes it sound like it will blossom this Saturday.

British TV company Sky News has started the translation of test programs for 3D television. This is one of few TV companies in the world that is engaged in providing 3D technology in TV broadcasting.

Rugby In 3D - What's Next? 3D Strongman Competition?

To watch such a television spectators will need to purchase 3D attachment and special glasses. The new technology was demonstrated during Rugby match translation.
For obtaining 3D image two cameras were used. They simultaneously transmitted picture from different angles and finally, with the help of glasses, spectators saw deep image with 3D effect.

EDITOR’S NOTE:

Once again…they’re wearing glasses [sigh].

The prototype, scientists have developed, is 4×4 inches in size, and can show monochromic image only. Now they work on increasing the diagonal to the size of modern PC screens and creating color image.

”

Three-dimensional TV is coming to a living room near you. But will the technology spur a consumer spending spree like digital and high-definition TV did before it? Or will 3D end up being the next big flop?

One thing is clear, TV manufacturers need something new to get people buying TVs. Over the last couple of years, TV manufacturers have experienced a sales boom as consumers upgrade to digital TVs in anticipation of the government’s mandated switch to digital TV broadcasts in February 2009. Eager shoppers have also been upgrading to high-definition TVs as movie studios, cable and satellite operators, and TV broadcasters have begun offering more programming in HD.

But as the economy worsens, the forecast for the TV market is looking grim. The LCD TV market is only expected to grow about 17 percent in terms of units shipped in 2009, according to research firm DisplaySearch. This is down from growth of about 29 percent in 2008. Plasma TV growth is also expected to suffer with the market only expected to grow by about 5 percent in 2009 compared with a 24 percent rise in 2008, DisplaySearch said.

As a result, TV makers are looking for the next hot thing to attract new consumers. And some are hoping 3D TVs could be it.”

See the rest at CNET

Check out this quote from the Texas Instruments DLP 3D TV site:

Turn on your new 3-D DLP® HDTV, slide on your active 3-D glasses, and watch the images jump off the high definition screen and into your home theatre. The extreme speed of the DLP® chip, combined with 3-D technology, makes it all possible.

–

Again, I can’t stress enough how the glasses are going to HAVE TO GO AWAY for these TVs to proliferate into the home. However, those who have a home theatre setup with the full surround sound may dig into the early “3D glasses” model.

Anyways, DLP is a fantastic technology and will probably be at the forefront of this consumer 3D technology. We’ll keep an eye on it. At least their website is dope and gives us hope it will arrive sooner than later – check it out:

http://www.dlp.com/hdtv/3-d_dlp_hdtv.aspx