COMING SOON: 3D Televisions

At the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Los Vegas last week, the buzz was all about 3D televisions. With the success of 3D movies like Avatar, and more 3D movies coming out, like Alice in Wonderland, the world is ready for 3D to hit the small screen. Last week, three big announcements were made, implying that 3D televisions aren’t just going to be a fad, but rather are the next step in the evolution of TV technology.

First, Discovery Communications announced that they are engaging in a joint venture with Sony and IMAX to bring 3D televisions to the living room. Sony will be producing the 3D-capable televisions that will be required to view Discovery’s 3D programming, while IMAX will likely be responsible for providing the technology for filming programs in 3D, and converting 2D programs into 3D. The Discovery-Sony-IMAX triumvirate will launch a 24-hour channel in 2011, which will be dedicated to running all 3D programming. The channel will feature programs on natural history, space exploration, adventure, engineering, science and technology, motion pictures, and children’s programming. Unfortunately, plans as of now only intend to broadcast the channel in the U.S., but you can bet that Canadian broadcasting companies will immediately follow suit.

On the same day, ESPN also announced that they were planning to kick off their own 3D-dedicated channel on June 11 2010, to broadcast the World Cup soccer match in 3D. ESPN is committed to keep this channel running for at least one year, with a minimum of 85 live 3D events. Other planned events include the Summer X Games (for extreme sports), NBA games, and college basketball and college football. They do not plan to air reruns, so the network will go dark when there are no 3D events to air. Again, there might be a delay before this becomes available in Canada, but it would be great ig we could watch the World Cup in 3D!

Later that week, DirecTV also announced that they were set to launch a trio of dedicated 3D channels by June 2010. This will include a 3D pay-per-vew channel, a 3D video-on-demand channel, and a free linear 3D channel intended as a “sampler demo channel”. DirecTV is also also planning to work with other programming partners and movie studios to produce more 3D content, including CBS, MTV, NBC Universal, and Turner Broadcasting System, as well as the Fox Sports Network to broadcast the MLB All-Star Game on July 11 2010, (hmm… not as exciting as watching the World Cup in 3D, but still pretty exciting). Current DirecTV customers with existing top-sets will get a free firmware upgrade to support 3D programming, but they will still need to buy a compatible 3D television, such as the Panasonic Viera Full HD 3D TV. DirecTV has signed a deal with Panasonic to be the exclusive sponsor of their services.

Clearly, 3D televisions aren’t just going to be a passing fad. It’s only a matter of time before every household in Canada owns one. But the question is, how much time? There are still some among us, I’m sure, that are still trying to catch up with the HD trend. But it’s the nature of technology to make leaps and bounds before everyone can catch up. From black and white, to colour, to HD, to 3D, the evolution of television just keeps getting faster and faster. Technology grows at an exponential rate, but people are much slower to adopt such technology. So how long are you going to wait before your house gets their own 3D television?