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In this Industry Report

The new wave of 3D movies being released theatrically has the industry scrambling to accommodate 3D content in the home. Hailed as the next step in home entertainment, 3D has generated enthusiasm among Studios, broadcasters, games developers and consumer electronics manufacturers alike. But there is uncertainty surrounding how 3D will implemented across the industry and concern around the implications for production and distribution.

This report addresses these issues, offering a first-take assessment on the hurdles and the opportunities for 3D in the home. The report evaluates available technology for display and distribution – with an overview of standardisation efforts for compression and delivery – and provides a timeline for potential mass market adoption of 3D in the home, including sales forecasts for 3D-capable displays. The report also offers a breakdown of the 3D content pipeline for movies, TV programming and video games and examines 3D's potential to generate incremental revenue.

Key Findings

• Consumers will need to invest in a new display to watch 3D content at home.
• Glasses-based technologies will dominate the emerging market for 3D-capable displays but will eventually be superseded by autostereoscopic ('glasses-less') solutions as these become viable.
• The adoption curve for 3D-capable displays will be determined by standardisation efforts for content delivery and compression.
• Blu-ray Disc is the clear frontrunner for distribution of 3D movies to the home.
• 3D broadcasting will take longer to arrive given constraints around bandwidth and production budgets.
• The prevalence of early adopters in games market means 3D games may arrive in the home sooner than 3D movies or TV programming.
• Overall, 3D content will be slow to proliferate due to the size of the addressable market and the incremental production costs associated with 3D, as well as the requirement for the industry to learn a new visual vocabulary.
• By extending the 3D premium established in the theatrical market across other distribution platforms, the industry will create an opportunity to generate incremental revenue

In this report:

• Evaluation of available 3D-capable display technology.
• Assessment of 3D standardisation efforts and potential routes to the home.
• Forecast sales of 3D-capable displays to 2015 based on uptake scenarios.
• Analysis of the 3D content pipeline and examination of the implications of 3D production.
• Identification of possible winners and losers in the emerging market for 3D in the home.

Table of Contents

Tables and Charts

Television Intelligence

TV Technology Intelligence

Author/s

Tom Morrod

Marie Bloomfield

Companies mentioned