If the recent Consumer Electronics Show is any indication, 3-D television sets are poised to invade living rooms across America this year.
And several organizations and companies with Colorado ties could help lead the charge, from research consortiums to technology and content providers. Among them is Louisville- based CableLabs, which announced this month that it is working to ensure that 3-D TVs will be compatible with existing cable-TV set-top boxes.
Major TV manufacturers have already hauled their prototypes to the nonprofit’s office for testing, and several others have recently expressed interest in doing so.
“We wanted to make sure that as these new TVs enter the market, they work effectively with the cable systems for 3-D delivery,” said David Broberg, vice president of consumer video technology for CableLabs, formed in 1988 by the cable-TV industry to research and develop new technologies.
3-D TVs were all the rage at the Consumer Electronics show, or CES, held Jan. 7-10 in Las Vegas. Leading manufacturers used the annual gathering of techies to announce 3-D TV plans, including Sony, Pioneer, JVC, Toshiba and Samsung.
All of those companies indicated they would use technology from RealD, a Beverly Hills, Calif.-based company that conducts its research and development in Boulder. JVC said it would incorporate RealD’s 3-D format into its LCD TVs, while Panasonic and others announced plans to use the firm’s eyewear technology.
The Consumer Electronics Association forecasts that nearly 4.3 million 3-D TVs will be sold this year, almost double estimates released before the start of CES. By 2013, more than 25 percent of all televisions sold are expected to be 3-D TVs.
Prices remain sketchy, though initial sets are expected to cost upward of several thousand dollars, similar to early prices for other new TV technologies, such as LCD and high-definition screens. One difference, however, is that 3-D TV sets will require glasses, and buying additional pairs could cost up to $100 each. Early 3-D TVs are expected to require active, battery-powered eyewear, unlike the passive, disposable glasses used in theaters.
Last month, the Blu-ray Disc Association finalized 3-D standards for Blu-ray games and movies, a move that should help speed consumer adoption of 3-D, said UBS analyst John Hodulik.
“Standards should ensure a variety of devices and a rapid decline in hardware prices,” Hodulik wrote in a research note.
Discovery Communications and DirecTV, companies with deep connections to John Malone and his Douglas County-based Liberty Media, also have 3-D initiatives.
Discovery, operator of the Discovery Channel, is part of a joint venture with Sony and IMAX that plans to launch a 3-D TV network next year. Malone sits on Discovery’s board and served as chairman and chief executive of the firm’s predecessor, Discovery Holding.
Malone is chairman of DirecTV, which in late December launched a satellite that will allow the satellite-TV provider to add three 3-D channels by June.
“We expect DirecTV to lead in 3-D, as it has with HD,” Hodulik wrote.
Andy Vuong: 303-954-1209 or avuong@denverpost.com
