Over the past few years it can hardly be said that the television manufacturing industry has been booming. People simply have not been purchasing new television sets. Much of this is due to the economy being in a rut and people not buying anything new. The LCD market grew at a rate of 29% in 2008, and manufacturers were hoping it would increase, but in fact it only grew 17% in 2009. Television manufactures are hoping that 3-D will put an end to this and get the television industry back in business. There is further hope for a revival because people are able to upgrade their televisions in ways to make them seem unlike the televisions of a generation ago and virtually unrecognizable to the television sets of the previous fifty years. Television owners can upgrade their televisions to high-definition for their home movie studios. More television broadcasters are now beginning to show more programs in high definition (HD) The government’s mandated switch to digital TV signal broadcasts that came into existence in February of last year. All of this is likely to generate sales of new televisions as people grow into and become more comfortable with the new technology.
The 3D attraction has been around since the 1950’s. It began as a gimmick until the mass media began to love it. Although 3D TV’s started out as more of an attraction, and certainly something its creators never thought would become standard in the way people watch television, may soon become the only way to watch TV and at movie theaters. In 2009, DreamWorks announced that all of their movies would be produced in 3D, and they were. They are one of the major leaders in making 3D television become the newest phenomenon. Currently, 3D televisions will be nearly the same price as HDTVs. It is believed that the no price differential will cause people to select televisions that include 3D as an added feature.
Researchers main criticism of 3D television is that people will have to wear the special 3D glasses while in the comfort of their home to view 3d programs. Without 3D glasses, when viewing something in 3D, the image is blurry and almost hurts the eyes. I have experienced this firsthand, and it is not pleasant. It is projected to be about ten years until the industry will have the technology to make 3D television without the necessity of glasses. With that kind of time frame who can say when that will really begin. Another major fear that might cause 3D not to catch on is that it is currently impossible to get 3D footage from live broadcasts or in current home movie theaters. Thus, there is fear in the industry this could result in overlapping and wasteful competition just as there was for blue-ray and HD.
I would love to see 3D television become the norm. It can alter the way we gain information. 3D viewing breaks new barriers not imaginable before. Who knows, after this there could be 4D. That may sound crazy, but sixty years ago 3D sounded just as crazy. Advertisers is likely to play a major role in the success or failure of 3D televisions because of their creative use of technology. Also, companies such as Panasonic and LG need to combine their efforts so they can make 3D televisions available to a new generation of viewers. I have yet to meet anyone who has a 3D television, but I am looking forward to seeing on in the near future. I am excited for this advancement in television viewing.
