Earlier this month, the CES has been the opportunity for most of the biggest TV manufacturers to show their latest offering on the upcoming trend in the television industry: 3D Television. They’re betting that 3D technology will be as big a boost for the industry as the transition to color TVs from black and white. Skeptics have noted that it took a decade for the cost of color TVs to fall enough to win acceptance in the United States, so there’s no way to know whether or not 3D will be a success. Meanwhile, electronics makers are looking to 3D as a way to encourage consumers to upgrade to new televisions, and they are positioning it as a more dramatic leap forward than the move from standard quality to high-definition television.

Actually, there are only a handful of 3D TVs on the market today, but starting this spring, that’s expected to change. Some see the need for consumers to wear special 3D glasses as a potential stumbling block for 3D in homes. We’re leaving the “3D TVs without glasses” topic for another post. Today we’re going to take a look at what’s available today in terms of 3D content, as well as what’s coming down the pipe.

3D TV Channels

As of right now, there’s not a single 3D TV channel, but that will rapidly change in the coming months. After two years of testing, ESPN plans to launch its 3D channel, ESPN 3D, in June. The station will be dedicated to broadcasting live sporting events in true stereoscopic 3D. While it will only be active during these broadcasts, ESPN has a total of 85 on the roster so far, which will start with the first 2010 FIFA World Cup match on June 11, between South Africa and Mexico, and include up to 25 other World Cup matches.

DirecTV and Panasonic also announced today that they’ve partnered to launch no less than three 3D stations this year. Two will offer linear content (with no control), while a third will actually operate on demand to deliver 3D content as you want to watch it. Content for these channels will come from CBS, NBC, MTV, AEG, HDNet and Fox Sports and will include will include natural history, space, exploration, adventure, engineering, science, technology, movies, sports, and children’s programming. Discovery said it is forming a joint venture company with Sony and IMAX to deliver the service. It will be a dedicated, 24-hour channel that shows movies, nature programs and other content that lends itself well to 3D.

2D Content Converted To 3D

Some 3D televisions will actually generate their own 3D content from standard 2D video. Toshiba’s top-of-the-line Cell HDTVs will use the company’s TriVector technology to bring your old movies to life, while Samsung’s 9000 series LED HDTV will perform something similar.

With the public’s renewed interest in 3D for both theatrically released content and beyond, many content producers are looking to repurpose existing 2D materials to meet demand. JVC has introduced the IF-2D3D1 Image Processor, which works as a 2D-to-3D converter. The IF-2D3D1 is designed to help 3D content producers improve their workflow, whether they are converting archived 2D material or shooting original content in 3D. JVC is also licensing this 2D-to-3D conversion technology to other manufacturers, such as 3D decoder chip manufacturer Sensio Technologies.

Blu Ray 3D

Perhaps the most obvious source of 3D content will come from movies that were always intended for the 3D format. Dreamworks will launch Monsters vs. Aliens, for instance, as one of the first 3D Blu-ray discs, a format that was only finalized in December. Despite the late standard adoption, Toshiba, Sony, Panasonic and Samsung all have plans for 3D Blu-ray players.

Disney, which says it has produced more 3D content than any other major, will begin rolling out 3D Blu-ray titles this year beginning with “Disney’s A Christmas Carol” and followed by “Alice in Wonderland” and “Toy Story 3.”

Sony’s first planned 3D release is the recent animated film Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. The film’s release will be timed to coincide with the availability of Sony’s 3D Bavia LCD TVs and 3D-compatible Blu-ray players in the middle of 2010. If you’ve got a PlayStation 3 at home, remember that you won’t need a new Blu-ray player to watch upcoming 3D Blu-ray discs; a firmware update due later this year will enable 3D Blu-ray playback on Sony’s gaming console.

© 3D Content & Programming On The Way

There have been numerous announcements at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, from manufacturers showing off the latest technological improvement in the TV industry: 3D Television. They’re hoping that 3D TVs become the hot new thing, already trying to push the industry past HDTV, which incidentally is just now starting to reach mainstream status. For 3D TVs to live up to their potential, a lot of conditions have to be met, and it seems that, at least in theory, things are moving in this direction: updated 3D set top boxes, converter boxes, disc formats (3D Blu Ray) and players, and cable channels (ESPN 3D) are in the works.

Some people are skeptical about whether the 3D trend will pick up at all, but as is the case with many new technologies, you can’t really tell from the start. At the beginning of a new technology’s life cycle, there’s always the price factor. It’s pretty much a given that 3D TVs will be very expensive. Ultimately, though, two things have to coincide for 3D TV sets to become popular: how much content is available, and how quickly prices of 3D television sets fall. This is, after all, what is happening right now with HDTVs.

3D TV has one more hurdle to overcome though: besides the fact that consumers would have to buy new TVs, they would also have to put on special 3D glasses (also called 3D goggles) in order for the picture to give the illusion of depth. Therefore, some people insist that watching 3D TV becomes limited to times when people decide to sit down and focus on a movie or show. It’s not really comparable to the fact that people don’t mind putting on the 3D glasses in movie theaters. When you go to the movies, it’s by choice. Moviegoers are a captive audience. At home, it’s a different story, and you might have to run to the kitchen or to another room, or you might be multitasking, watching TV and cooking for example. Having to wear a 3D goggle is awkward at best.

TV makers aren’t letting these potential problems stop them, however, and they’re revealing their 3D models, some of which will be available as early as this spring. Samsung is planning to have from 10 to 14 percent of the TVs it will sell this year to be 3D capable. Panasonic is debuting four 3D sets this spring, but instead of LCD, they will use plasma technology, their argument being that the image quality is superior to 3D on LCD sets. Sony is releasing its 3D sets this summer. LG is introducing 3D capable 47-inch and 55-inch flat panel TVs in May. Vizio, one of the large set makers in the US, is also joining the fray.

Granted, the technology is worthless without the content to match. This should not be a problem for long. First off, the specs for a 3D version of the Blu Ray disc have been finalized, and 3D Blu Ray players are expected to be on sale this spring. Also, satellite broadcaster DirecTV Inc. said it will send out software upgrades to most of its set-top boxes in June that will enable 3D reception. Two major cable networks — ESPN and Discovery — are already on board to start beaming 3D entertainment into homes for the first time.

I’m particularly pleased with ESPN’s strategy, as it plans to have its channel running in time to show World Cup soccer matches in 3D on June 11. ESPN 3D expects to showcase at least 85 live sporting events during the first year. There will be no reruns initially, so the network will be dark when there’s no 3D event. Among other events planned for 3D broadcast: the Summer X Games (extreme sports), NBA games, college basketball and college football. ESPN is committing to the 3D network through June 2011. Also, Sony announced its development of 3D-ready video games, taking advantage of its powerful PS3 console that’s starting to get traction. Disney declared that all of its future releases would be in 3D in the near future. With their recent acquisition of Marvel Entertainment, we can only imagine what the average superhero movie is going to look like!

Not everyone is sitting around waiting for the content to catch up with the technology, though.  Samsung is offering sets which it says will be able to convert standard 2D programming to 3D on the fly. Admittedly, the quality won’t be as good as “native” 3D, but it’s intended as an introduction to the world of 3D viewing at home. Toshiba is adopting the same approach, planning to roll out a new line of five TVs this year that will perform the 2D to 3D conversion in a separate box with a powerful processor similar to one used in the Sony PlayStation 3.

It’s obvious that there’s an entire ecosystem that’s extremely excited over the possibilities that 3D could bring if successful. That excitement is further fueled by the current success of the movie “Avatar“, that’s currently smashing all types of box office records. By last accounts, between 70% and 80% of that movie’s box-office intake comes from 3D screenings, and people are talking about it as a movie that you not only have to see, but as a must-see in 3D.

So the beginning of the year is all about 3D TVs. Let’s see if the trend keeps up!

© 3D TV, Star Of The New Year