The need for 3D glasses could be around for at least five years say experts who met this week in the USA . They also claim that 3D is really taking off with consumers and that several Hollywood studio’s are now making 3D movies for release next year.
The experts said that 3D may be in its infancy as a technology but 3D in the home was succeeding beyond anyone’s expectations and had a bright future. They were speaking as part of a 3D@Home panel at a Consumer Electronics Association event in New York.
Moderated by Popular Mechanics editor Seth Porges, panelists included Samsung HDTV marketing manager Dan Schinasi, Sony Broadcast and Production Systems Senior VP Alec Shapiro, DreamWorks Animation Co-President of Production John Batter and Verizon Fios Vice President of Programming and Marketing Terry Denson.
“I don’t think there’s any chance that it won’t catch on,” Shapiro said, referring to the strongly positive consumer reaction to Sony’s first 3D TVs.
Batter marveled at how quickly 3D has caught on with audiences. When his studio was in production on “Monsters vs. Aliens” in early 2009, the executive said, he wondered how soon at-home 3D displays would arrive. The answer surprised him- just over a year later.
This made Batter confident that glasses-free 3D will be available sooner than the 5-to-10-year window generally bandied about in the industry. However, the rest of the panel demurred when asked about the glasses-free future and how far away it appears.
“We’re doing it now with active glasses,” Shapiro said. “What develops over the next 2 or 3 years remains to be seen.”
When an audience member asked how the industry can move on to 3D even though HD is only a few years old, Samsung’s Schinasi stood up for the quality of the non-3D TVs on the market. “By no means do you need to destroy your HDTV that you recently purchased,” he said.
