Options
3D TV? Where's the money going to come from?
zigthedog
Posts: 344 Forum Member
✭
Will 3d TV ever catch on? Over the past three years the Television makers must have made a killing, I hardly know anyone who hasn't changed their set for a new flat screen HD TV probably spending more money on a television than they ever had in the past but surely they don't now expect us to dump a set that is unlikely to be more than three years old for a more expensive 3d model. And with it 3d glasses that they say will cost around £100 a pair, how many pairs do you buy. I suppose the average family, two adults and 2 children will need fours pairs, and how about your guests. What do you say, come round and watch our new TV, don't forget to bring your own glasses.
And that's another thing, will these new fangled glasses work on all sets, for instance will you be able to watch a Sony 3D TV with glasses made by Samsung for a Samsung TV.
I can't help thinking HD TV is doomed to fail, we are just coming out of a recession and unemployment heading for a record high and yet they want us to pay more for a new television. I can see it going the other way, I can see the day where I will be forced to drop my Virgin TV contract and go to Freeview, cut my broadband speed from 20 to 10mb as both are luxuries we can do without. I'm sure I'm not alone in these thoughts, for what I spend with Virgin in three or four months I can easily buy a Freesat HD system so will I be any worse off?
And that's another thing, will these new fangled glasses work on all sets, for instance will you be able to watch a Sony 3D TV with glasses made by Samsung for a Samsung TV.
I can't help thinking HD TV is doomed to fail, we are just coming out of a recession and unemployment heading for a record high and yet they want us to pay more for a new television. I can see it going the other way, I can see the day where I will be forced to drop my Virgin TV contract and go to Freeview, cut my broadband speed from 20 to 10mb as both are luxuries we can do without. I'm sure I'm not alone in these thoughts, for what I spend with Virgin in three or four months I can easily buy a Freesat HD system so will I be any worse off?
0
Comments
By the time there is enough 3D besides Re Rendered CG animation, then 3D sets will probably be affordable like HD is now after all it wasn't long ago when a 20" LCD panel would set you back £1000
Not the case really, my 28" CRT back in 1993 cost me about £1500. I got a 36" widescreen CRT in about 2004 costing around £1500. My current 37" LCD (1080p) cost under £700. Add in inflation and costs are plummeting.
now 42" is hitting the 500 dollar mark which is pretty amazing. panel prices have been dropping at a steady pace. so crying foul is rather odd. 3d will eventually become a free feature, it mostly requires a faster refresh and well they aren't going to include the glasses. and tv's are cheaper than vacations and other such luxuries.
I do appreciate what you are saying about the cost of TVs, in fact I own a GEC Valve Radio made in 1947 (and it still works) and the cost 53 years ago was £17:10 Shillings, the equivalent of roughly four weeks wages which today would probably be around £1600. The difference is technology then was moving much slower. My father bought a 9inch Bakerlite Bush TV in 1953 and kept that TV for about 9 years before upgrading to a 17inch Decca. In 1955 ITV commenced transmissons and we had to wait 12 years before our 3rd channel, BBC2, came along. HD TV was introduced some 3 1/2 years ago by Sky TV and now when HD is just having it's fourth birthday 3d TV is to be introduced.
Personally I think I'll stick to my present 23 inch HDTV and keep having my holidays, maybe a TV is cheaper but the memories last longer.:D
Earlier this decade (grown-up version) 42" Plasma-Tv's were costing £10,000.
There's a couple of companies that can convert legacy 2D content to 3D. Most of the larger companies in production work-flow now have some original/raw 3D capability, including the big boys of Sony, Panasonic, Avid, Panavision et al.
More importantly, in case you hadn't noticed, The Consumer Electronics Industry, that had previously worked on the assumptions/cycle of Televisions not being replaced for as long as two decades, maybe passing them across rooms and younger/poorer family, has now been infected by people from the computer industry where they expect change every 18 months,
They need substantial upgrades now to maintain the profits via volume in light of the lower margin/profits they have now, but I suspect the possibility of display upgrades will change
after the next generation of actual display technology such as OLED (and if SED ever reaches fruition, baring in mind that Plasma was first made available in the 60's and OLED has been in development since the latter 1980's, but is genuinely almost here) plus home Wireless.
Kind regards,
MN
3d will only work if it is made the only option to buy. Which is what happened to hdtv. Manufactures stopped producing crt televisions and concentrated on hd panels and therefore the consumer was left with only this option.
Manufactures have annouced increased sales in the past 2 years as prices have dropped but many consumers have not invested in new tv sets to receive hd viewing they have purchased a hdtv because they had no other options.
flat panels surpassed crt while crt was still being sold. it slowly climbed and took the market by merit alone. even women folk who normally scoffed at the tv's as eye sores could buy a big flat panel for their walls. the desirability factor of a giant picture screen which was one of the promised "future technologies" like the flying care was undeniable. it has nothing to do with crts being phased out giving the consumer no choice. crts existed side by side quite a while and their decline was simply a matter of the consumer choice. they choose not to support them. whether the cheaper 30-34" "edtv" types or even the super fine pitch models failed to justify their existence compared to flat panels. when even walmart and costco big box stores now prominently display dozens of hdtv's along a wall displaying hd content you know somethings different. what was the equivalent in the past? maybe a couple 27-32" tvs, none looking all that impressive on a shelf. the simple fact is HDTVS sell themselves. you only have to remember how dire it was in the past. i don't think most department stores actually sold tvs over 32" in the past, you had to go to an electronics store as those were too expensive and bulky to bother with for the average consumer. now you see 60+" at even walmart on prominent display.
3d will work if it is simply a given feature, and it will be. things like 240hz+ are trickle down features. high enough refresh for 3d is a trickle down feature, it will be as standard as a low response rate on a tv soon enough.
Flat Panel tv only took off when the price dropped. ( The same will happen with blu-ray ) manufactures could now sell these sets at an affordable price for the average consumer. Crt was then phased out.
Many households today still have crt in the bedrooms because to replace a portable in a kids bedroom would cost 4 times at much. If you have 3 kids and they each want a flat panel on the wall in the bedroom today it's still beyond many peoples affordability.
Even a replacement tv in the kitchen to watch 20 mnutes a day will cost alot more now until prices drop.
Not really, flat screens replaced CRT very quickly - even while the costs were still high. Only the cheap junk manufacturers continued to make CRT, and those were essentially special orders from the supermarkets.
The entire trade were astonished at how fast it was.