TV vendors who are desperate to enter the 3D TV market in time for Xmas are now selling TVs with bad 3D features including flickering images, exaggerated depth, and poor crosstalk claims a leading display analyst.
Paul Gray, the Director of European TV Research for DisplaySearch, claims that the rush into 3D has led to some worryingly immature products reaching the market, “Plasma models are not included in his assessment” he said.
He claimed that when he visited IFA in 2009 there was little to see to support 3D, “however this year you could hardly move for 3D equipment on show from cameras to editing suites, graphics and subtitling systems, and set top boxes” he said.
“LCD also looked nice and stable to watch with no flicker. While it’s too early to conclude that active-shutter 3D LCD is squeezing the technology too far, it is certain that there is a need for significant improvement” he wrote in a recent blog.
He claimed that while it’s usual for early adopters to be experimenting, “the risk this time round is that 3D is declared ‘dead on arrival’ by consumers concluding that it’s too painful to watch”.
This rush to get anything onto the market indicates the enormous competitive pressures that set makers experience at present.
“As there is little to exclude competition, 3D will pervade the market rapidly, with little gain for set makers. The solution to knee-jerk price cutting can only be a change in behaviour and above all by seeking ways to build unique value” he said.