Providers Say They’re Ready for 3D. Are Viewers?

By David Tanklefsky -- Multichannel News, 5/31/2010 12:01:00 AM

New York — With a number of high-profile events already in the can, 3DTV is ready to break out of the gates with ESPN showcasing the World Cup in the format next month. But there’s still a very long way to go, in terms of consumer adoption, before the emerging technology comes close to critical mass.

“This definitely is the year that everybody’s converging on 3D except for one person and that’s the consumer,” said HDMI licensing president Steve Venuti at NewBay Media’s 3DTV 2010 conference here last week. The panel was moderated by Multichannel News technology editor Todd Spangler.

The panelists said that the 3D viewer experience is so compelling, it is just a matter of time before the standard becomes an accepted entertainment medium. “The networks are ready. The boxes are ready,” Motorola Devices and Home Motorola vice president/general manager Larry Robinson said. There’s a path to deliver that experience today.”

But consumer adoption poses some considerable challenges because the service requires additional bandwidth, 3D viewer guides have yet to roll out and there is limited amount of formatted content available. That has focused much of the 3D hype on big-name live sporting events, such as the recent The Masters golf tournament and ESPN’s upcoming coverage of 25 FIFA World Cup matches from South Africa.

SES World Skies chief technical officer Alan Young said there is bandwidth on the satellites to deliver 3D, but noted that distributors must be efficient. Viewers only see about 1% the number of bits on their screen of what is actually produced already, he said.

Nonetheless, the executives were optimistic that 3D will continue to pique consumer interest. “Critical mass will be reached when 3D is economically beneficial,” which will come about when more viewers purchase 3D-ready equipment, said Young.

Hess said there were a number of issues, “some technical, some behavioral. But because the viewer experience is so good, it’s going to happen.”

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David Tanklefsky is a reporter for Broadcasting & Cable.