The BBC says the upcoming Dr Who special will be the last 3D project from the BBC for three years. Except another BBC announcement coming right after that is the BBC will broadcast Wimbledon in 3D. Whatever!
The BBC says watching 3D is too much of a hassle for many viewers, particularly with having to wear 3D glasses. A related problem is there are not that many 3D TVs in use by consumers. That’s a problem for broadcasters since their model is to broadcast to huge markets, not niche markets. 3D broadcasting is, at this point, questionable.
Another problem is the 3D programming on some channels was not always good. A complaint voiced about ESPN 3D is that much of the programming is old sporting event reruns that no one wants to watch.
3D will be adopted, but not through traditional TV broadcast channels. 3D viewers will consume on demand content over the Internet. At some point in the future, this smaller market will be a bigger market. There is a large segment of hard core 3D gamers that have top of the line computer gaming systems – with 3D display screens. These folks are likely watching online 3D too.
In the motion picture segment, a different problem is that theaters think they must charge twice as much to watch a 2D movie in 3D. That is a dead end business model.
3D will be successful when 3D is something we take for granted and 3D “just is”. That is, when 3D is not sold as an added value but is just part of the programming.
I am editing 3D video I shot yesterday and the use of 3D within this video is perfectly natural. It “just is”. That is how 3D needs to be, not some special check off box on spec sheets, not some way of over charging for content. Fortunately, there is good 3D available online and that content will get better, more widely available, and increase in its subject coverage. That is where 3D will grow.
