Speaking at the 2010 CES in Las Vegas, where 3D is a hot topic, executives from DisplaySearch said that the market for 3D displays—which is encouraged by the recent success of 3D cinema—is forecast to take off in 2010, providing a welcome boost to the electronics industry.
"3D displays are taking off with consumers due to increasing availability of 3D content. In addition, 3D standardisation has also been addressed or is being evaluated in several 3D organizations," executives said.
Jennifer Colegrove, Director of Display Technologies at DisplaySearch, said, "A number of manufacturers of consumer electronics devices, including TVs, monitors, notebooks, Blu-ray disc players, and digital cameras/camcorders/photo frames, have aggressively promoted 3D in the home. In addition to consumer use of 3D displays, the technology has also been used for many professional applications and advertisement/public displays."
The research company is also forecasting that 3D-ready monitors will grow from 40K units (0.02% penetration) in 2009 to 10 million (3.6% penetration) in 2018.
3D notebook PCs are forecast to grow from 66K units (0.04% penetration) in 2009 to 17.7 million (3.2% penetration) in 2018.
Mobile phones will be the largest 3D display application on a unit shipment basis in 2018, with 71 million units with 3D capability.
The largest screen size category for 3D display shipments will be 1-4.x", due to demand from mobile phone and digital camera/camcorder applications. The second largest size range will be 40-49", due to TV, public display and 40+ monitor applications.
LCD will be the primary display technology used for 3D displays as a result of its wide range of display applications ranging from small mobile phones to large public displays and TVs.
Eyewear will be necessary for most 3D applications for many years to come, due to the limitations of auto-stereoscopic (no glasses) technologies.
DisplaySearch forecasts there will be more than 7000 new 3D cinema screens installed in 2010 and an additional 9000 in 2011.
