CEA Panel Details Work Needed On 3D TV
A lot more work has to be done before the industry can come close to fulfilling the potential of 3D TV.
That was the gist of most of the comments from a panel at Tuesday’s CEA Industry Forum made up of Andrew Eisner, director of community and content for Retrevo; Jim Mainard, production development head of Dreamworks; Dan Schinasi, HDTV product planning, Samsung; and Brian Burns, strategic business planning and development, ESPN.
Burns said his network’s efforts in producing 3D sporting events is “kind of like July 2003 when we were four months into ESPN HD.” The 3D effort is “still too early to judge,” but he noted, “We are making technical progress … learning more and more every day.”
Schinasi of Samsung said that broadcast standards for 3D TV have a “more secure foundation” than the early days of HDTV.
But the current problem on the consumer level, according to Eisner of Retrevo, is: “What premium will the consumer pay to get 3D? Our surveys show that if it costs the same as a [2D] HD set, fine.”
Dreamworks’ Mainard noted that six of the top 10 box office hits this year are in 3D so far and that at the theater, “consumers are willing to pay for the premium.”
