Consumer Electronics Enters the Third Dimension Tweet

If one were to believe what was shown at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2010, 3-D is not only the next big thing but it soon will be pervasive in consumer televisions in a matter of years.

But let’s not cross into the third dimension just yet.

While the idea of viewing 3-D movies and live sports events from the comfort of the couch is attractive, it remains to be seen if consumer viewing habits will be radically altered by the arrival of 3-D content. The most significant change will be the requirement to wear 3-D glasses. It’s unclear if consumers would be willing to wear such glasses for hours at a time.

Furthermore, consumers and television broadcasters still are wrestling with the additional costs of adopting 3-D.

Because of that, consumers shouldn’t expect an immediate barn-burner of activity in the 3-D market. However, the current impetus for 3-D will lay the groundwork for solid unit growth in 3-D-ready products during the next few years.

System Requirements
In order to view 3-D content in the home, Liquid Crystal Display-Televisions (LCD-TVs) must support at least a 120Hz refresh rate. That’s largely a non-factor because the LCD-TV market already is moving toward integrating 120Hz and 240Hz rates.

The additional platform modifications and added costs to support 3-D content playback are expected to be minimal. This also goes for Set-Top Boxes (STBs) and Blu-ray players.

Blu-ray in particular is well on its way to adding 3-D with a specification finalized in December of 2009. This was a welcome development as it also will allow for backward compatibility to existing Blu-ray players. However, no universal standards are in place for 3-D content for fixed media or for broadcasts. This could hamper the early developmental stages of the 3-D rollout and consumer adoption.

Consumers Lukewarm
While the 3-D movie blockbuster “Avatar” has garnered a lot of media attention over the past few months, iSuppli believes the majority of consumers will be lukewarm to the idea of 3-D in the home, mostly because of the premium price tag expected for these new devices. Add to this a lack of 3-D formatted content and having to wear the pesky glasses, the consumer electronics industry has some work ahead of it in terms of getting consumers to buy into the technology.

The View in 3-D
While the number of 3-D-capable displays and playback devices is growing, it will not necessarily make it the predominant mode of operation and use within the home. Because consumer electronics manufacturers see this as an opportunity to boost the Average Selling Prices (ASPs) of their products and to spur product differentiation, we are likely to see even larger rollout of 3-D capable devices and displays.

And with broadcasters supporting the move to 3-D—despite concerns over the Return on Investment (ROI)—and the strong trend of LCD-TVs moving to 120/240Hz, the groundwork has been laid for the arrival of 3-D-ready consumer electronics devices during the next few years.

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