Report Sees Struggles for 3D TV Market

LONDON: A new report from Informa Telecoms & Media predicts that less than half of the 11 million 3D-ready TV sets in the U.K. in 2016 will be "active and regular" users of 3D content, despite major investments on the part of local broadcasters.

Informa notes early adopters have been more apt to seek out 3D content; just last year, 90 percent of homes with 3D-ready sets were "active" users. As 3D becomes "default" technology built into sets, it will end up reaching more people who are not interested in 3D viewing, resulting in a fall in the "active" percentage.

“3DTV has the backing of the major U.K. broadcasters like Sky and Virgin, and most recently the BBC announced its plans to show the Wimbledon final in 3D for the first time," said Adam Thomas, senior analyst and author of Global 3DTV Forecasts. "However, despite this, public reaction has been mixed—due to both a lack of content and a simple failure of the public to engage with what is, essentially, a new type of viewing experience."

Consumer-electronics manufacturers, however, will continue to use 3D as a way of selling consumers on future-proof sets. “Irrespective of existing public demand for 3D, major set manufacturers (Samsung, LG, Panasonic, et al) increasingly see 3D capability as a feature that they must include in their sets, or the perception will be that rival manufacturers are producing a technically-superior product (with 3D included)," Thomas continued. "The result is that an increasing proportion of TV sets are having 3D capability built into them. But instead of a USP [unique selling point], 3D is now often marketed as just one of the set’s benefits—along with features such as Internet-connection capability and LED backlighting."

Thomas concludes, “We do not share the view that 3D represents the obvious next evolutionary step for TV, in the same way that color followed black and white, or HD is following SD. A case can be made that color and HD offer noticeable enhancements to the technologies that preceded them. But 3DTV is less of an enhancement and rather more a new type of viewing experience—one that many people will enjoy, but some way from becoming ubiquitous."