Category Archives: Business

Media declares war against 3D – why?

Sales of 3D capable TVs increased by 100% in the US in 2013. Globally, 41 million 3D TVs sold in 2012 (2013 #s not available). Sales of Blu-Ray 3D discs are up 95% year over year. And glasses-free 3D TVs are coming to market by Q2 of 2014. 16 of the top 20 highest grossing movies of 2013 were 3D movies.

But never mind all that.  These reporters are on top of the story with top notch sourcing.

8 out of 10 regret buying a 3D TV, survey says | CNET UK.

  • Read the comments – nearly all comments are from readers saying they love their 3D TVs, universally disagreeing with the reporter.
  • This is an online poll of a “coupon” web site, not a random sample survey. The 1st clue of bias is it says 1/3 of respondents reported getting sick watching 3D movies, which is vastly larger than in the overall population.

CES 2014 is Turning Into a Funeral for 3D

3D TV is Dead

Netflix bets big on 4K, may end support for 3D. No one watches 3D content on Netflix because they do not really have any 3D content. They have a few dozen titles, most of which are cartoons or strange documentaries. There’s little high quality 3D content on Netflix.

The bias in these stories is just dripping over the screen. With words like “3D goggles” (in place of 3D glasses), “clunky 3D glasses”, and what not, its clear where their bias lies. Especially when the same reporters think video gaming helmets (Occulus Rift and other virtual reality game displays) are just so awesome – even if they are the size of a helmet. Makes no sense.

Back in the real world,

IZON will be shipping glasses-free 3D TVs in Q2. Stream TV Networks is showing off more 4K glasses-free 3D technology and this time, sounds like they have finally licensed their technology.

Sisvel Technology, the Italian media R&D firm, is showing off a more advanced version of their 3D Tile Format, they introduced at the 2013 CES. This enables the broadcast of high quality 3D imagery, improving over the limitation of current broadcast technology that squishes two images in low resolution.

Vizio, which announced it will not make additional “glasses” based 3D TVs this year, is demo’ing a glasses-free 3D technology from Dolby.

This year’s “big thing” (last year’s too, by the way) is 4K TVs, now branded as Ultra HDTV. All of these new 4K televisions are 3D capable.

Asked about 3DTV during the Q&A portion of his presentation, DuBravac [Consumer Electronics Association Chief Economist] gave a surprisingly optimistic response. “3DTV has actually done pretty well,” he said. “The deployment and adoption is there; usage maybe isn’t there.”

“Some of that takes time,” he added. “Last year, there was close to 100 percent growth in the U.S., but it has become a feature that is being adopted by default [as it is a standard on many TVs.]”

I was already shown a new 3D product while in a museum in Seattle on Sunday. A rep from a company in Hong Kong showed it to me (I was shooting 3D video at the time) and was enroute to Las Vegas to announce it at CES. Isn’t that cool? This year I chose not to go to CES but I still saw a new product demo already – and the CES has not even opened the doors yet.

 

 

Reuters suggests “mirrorless” format facing shakeout

Japan mid-tier camera makers face shakeout as smartphones shatter mirrorless hopes | Reuters.

Reuters seems to have gotten this story half right, and half wrong.  See below for the details.

  • Point and shoot market is mostly dying, replaced by consumers with smart phones
  • Says Canon, Nikon and Sony own 60% of the camera market
  • Panasonic and Olympus, two large promoters of “mirrorless” high end cameras, are said to be suffering in the current camera market shake out.  Sony is also a big promoter of mirrorless – the difference is that Panasonic and Olympus use the micro-four thirds sensor format.
  • The mirrorless market is large in Japan but has not had a big success elsewhere (around just 10% of sales in the U.S.)
  • The analysts think consumers want “connectivity” direct from their camera to Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

The Japan Times has a very different spin on this story saying the smart phone is hurting all of the camera makers including Canon and Nikon. And that mirrorless sales grew January through October, Year over Year. The Reuters story points to a drop in sales up through Christmas. Something’s fishy.

Olympus expects to return to profitability in 2014 (they were dealing with an accounting scandal recently). And Canon plans to re-engage the mirrorless market. In other words, the Reuters story seems all mixed up.

I much prefer mirrorless cameras. First, I mostly shoot video and need an electronic viewfinder, and second, since I often shoot 3D, I am carrying not one camera but two or three pairs of cameras. Mirrorless cameras are smaller and lighter, their lenses are smaller and lighter and cost less too.

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