From Avatar hype machine to tech industry laughing stock in just 3 short years – that sums up the promising yet ultimately doomed era of mainstream 3D television attempts.
Let‘s dive into the history of 3D TV‘s glory days along with the many tech and experience factors that led to its unceremonious demise.
A Century in the Making
While 3D televisions only entered the mainstream spotlight in 2010, the origins of 3D cinema and displays stretch back over a century.
Stereoscopic photos and viewers captivated consumers as far back as the early 1900s. Then the first crude anaglyph 3D film debuted in 1915 utilizing those classic red and cyan glasses still used in cheap 3D books today.
In 1922, the first dual film projector based 3D movie premiered to audiences, showcasing early forms of the same polarization technology we use in modern 3D movies. Several 3D film eras came and went in the 30s, 50s and 80s but failed to break through to the masses. The rapid alternation of images relies on the brain‘s persistence of vision to merge frames together into a 3D effect.
Home television proved extremely difficult to bring this stereoscopic technology sucessfully into the living room. Prior failed attempts included:
- 1960s: Using anaglyph glasses, red and blue/green filtered content
- 1980s: Passive polarization 3D and prototypes of shutter glasses
- 1990s: Better filter tech but still not viable for primetime
- 2000s: Shutter glasses combined with 1080p capable HDTVs gain little traction
While the technology finally met the minimum requirements for widespread adoption, 3D TV still lacked a catalyst to drive consumer demand. Enter James Cameron‘s sci-fi epic Avatar in 2009…
Avatar Starts the 3D Gold Rush
James Cameron‘s Avatar drove a new wave of enthusiasm for the prospects of 3D films. This CGI-heavy movie leveraged improved digital camera systems to help pioneer a new era of computer enhanced 3D movie filming.
The response was astronomical, with Avatar quickly skyrocketing to become the highest grossing movie in history (later eclipsed by a few other titles). Beyond just impressive box office revenue, audiences and critics alike praised the immersive 3D experience that Cameron was able to showcase on the big screen with this alien world.
| All Time Highest Grossing Movies |
|---|
| Movie |
| Avatar |
| Titanic |
| Star Wars Ep VII |
Sensing a new appetite for premium 3D experiences at home, television manufacturers scrambled to deliver 3D TV product lines capitalizing on the Avatar buzz. All the major brands jumped on board:
- Samsung – First 3D TV introduced in March 2010 using active shutter glasses
- Panasonic – Released the VT20 plasma 3D panel later in 2010
- LG – Opted for passive 3D film-based glasses in cheaper 3D TVs
- Sony – Active glasses XBR-series Bravia LCD 3D TVs like the NX810
And for a brief moment in time, it appeared 3D TV would be the next hit living room technology.
Early Optimism Quickly Fades
Coming hot off the heels of Avatar hype, early sales figures for these internet-connected 3D flat panels soared:
- 2010 – 2.26 million 3D-ready TVs shipped worldwide
- 2011 – Over 24 million units shipped globally
- 2012 – Peak sales hit 41 million televisions
Industry forecasts called for sales exceeding 60 million by 2015. 3D was supposed to be the next iteration beyond HD. But the honeymoon period ended swiftly…
Behind the scenes, a few flaws in 3D TV glasses tech and poor execution of bringing stereoscopic 3D into the living room manifested. Consumers discovered that donning uncomfortable, expensive glasses to watch tiny TVs just didn‘t provide an experience that translated well from cinemas to household viewing.
Shutter vs Cinema: Competing 3D Approaches Flopped
The two forms of modern 3D TV technology both relied on glasses to enable the stereoscopic effect but came with their own drawbacks:
Active Shutter – Samsung, Sony and Panasonic‘s TVs utilized Bluetooth powered glasses with LCD shutters to filter a different frame to each eye in rapid succession. The lenses alternated blocking/unblocking each eye synchronously with the 3D content‘s refresh rate. This simulated a stereoscopic effect quite well but came saddled with many issues:
- Expensive – Active shutter glasses cost $50-100 per pair!
- Heavy, uncomfortable plastic frames
- Required charging via micro-USB
- Caused eye strain headaches for many
- Picture quality varied greatly
Passive Cinema-Style – LG and Vizio opted for the same polarized lens glasses people wore in 3D movie theaters. By filtering out certain light wavelengths, each eye would see a slightly different image. Glasses were cheaper and lighter but came with a big 3D quality tradeoff:
- Cheaper throwaway glasses but still added costs
- Washed out colors and degraded picture
- Smaller overall 3D effect compared to good active shutter TVs
- Required sitting perfectly centered and no tilt to maintain 3D illusion
Regardless of tech used, having to wear clunky, expensive glasses to watch TV proved unacceptable to consumers accustomed to kicking back casually to enjoy shows. The physical disclaimers warning of dizziness and nausea when using 3D TV also set off red flags.
Lack of Content Doomed 3D
Having access to compelling, dedicated 3D content was expected to be key driver of adoption by early enthusiasts. However studios largely balked at investing in remastering an ample catalog of modern films into 3D or dedicating resources toward producing new native 3D movies.
TV channels also struggled to build an audience. In 2010 ESPN launched ESPN 3D network dedicated to live sports broadcasting specially filmed in 3D. But after just 3 years and miniscule viewership the channel went bust. In other regions Australia‘s top sporting networks dropped 3D video coverage due to tiny audience numbers.
There simply was not enough great 3D visual content being created relative to the swelling tide of 3D TV models hitting the market. And lower quality 3D conversions turned off tech savvy videophiles.
The Arrival of 4K UHD
While the luster quickly wore off on 3D TVs by 2013, the display panel industry kept innovating away with the next evolution – 4K Ultra High Definition screens.
4K UHD quadruples the number of pixels on screen from ~2 million in old 1080p sets to over 8 million pixels. The resolution leap from 720p to 1080p brought HDTV to life last decade. This 4K jump took clarity, sharpness and immersiveness to a whole new level.
As prices on 4K panels dropped steadily each year, the technology became irresistable to videophiles. And critically, the stellar picture enhancements worked beautifully with no need for ridiculous glasses or tweaks to enjoy!
| TV Technology Adoption Rates |
|---|
| Year |
| 2010 |
| 2016 |
| 2022 |
4K adoption meteoric rise vastly outpaced the brief 3D craze. And the benefits recognizably trounced gimmicky 3D. As consumers voted with their wallets on the next generation display tech, 3D faded into obscurity seemingly overnight by 2013. The CEA sales forecasts whiffed badly – 60 million 3D TVs by 2015? Not even close.
Just a few years after the initial fervor, manufacturers like LG and Samsung began phasing out 3D TV models altogether to focus R&D on 4K, HDR and next gen innovations instead. 3D TV was already reduced to an afterthought.
Will 3D Ever Break Through at Home?
In over a century across several attempts, no one has managed to successfully nail widespread adoption of stereoscopic 3D televisions in the living room.
The gaps all come back to failings in user experience – glasses, eye strain, lack of content.autoinstantsearch.com/compaq-contura/
Solutions like glasses-free auto-stereoscopic 3D panels briefly emerged later on but still couldn‘t deliver an experience compelling enough to revive 3D demand.
Perhaps the stars will someday again align for 3D TV – better filters, no glasses, Avatar 10 smashes $10 billion in box office sales? Who knows. But for now it remains a cautionary tale of industry overhype in the tech world.
Hope you enjoyed this deep dive on the quick rise and fall of the 3D TV era! What niche tech do you think might take off next? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
