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3D TV: How Much Are Consumers Willing to Pay?
Will 3D be affordable enough to get consumers to buy a new TV, Blu-ray player or gaming console?
The jury is still out as to whether or not 3D will be the next big thing in consumer electronics. Big-name manufacturers like LG, Panasonic, Mitsubishi and Sony are betting on it, either having already released 3D TVs or planning to in the near future.
You can bet that by 2010, there will be many choices dotting the 3D landscape, but will those choices be affordable enough to get consumers to actually go out and buy a new TV, Blu-ray player or gaming console?
According to a survey by In-Stat, it doesn't seem likely. While more than 64 percent of those surveyed were at least somewhat interested in 3D technology, only about 25 percent were willing to spend extra for the 3D technology. In fact, 43 percent said they’d like to spend less than $200 for it. However, when it came to 3D content, 67 percent of respondents said they’d be willing to pay more for a 3D version of a Blu-ray disc then a 2-D version.
So how big will the premiums be for 3D TVs, players and discs? Manufacturers are keeping pricing info close to their chests. Although Sony and Panasonic both plan to release their first 3D models in 2010, neither company would comment on the expected price tag of those units. At $2,199, Mitsubishi’s 65-inch (WD65837) 3D-ready TV is priced lower than other 65-inch 2D TVs currently on the market.
Besides price, what else could hinder 3D sales? Having to wear those dorky glasses, perhaps? Not likely, says a study by Quixel Research. The study found that while some consumers consider the glasses a nuisance, they’re not annoying enough to most to break the deal. Still, when given a choice, many said they would pay more for a 3D TV that requires no glasses. Comfy? Yes. The best option? Probably not.
One of the major disadvantages of 3D technology that requires no glasses is poor viewing angle, says David Naranjo, Mitsubishi director of product development. "Once the viewing angle is off center, the consumer loses the 3D effect."
What might be more of a roadblock, though, is the availability of 3D content, namely 3D content besides movies. "Sports would be a killer app," says Bob Scaglione, Sharp senior vice president of product and marketing group.
According to the Blu-ray Disc Association, there are fewer than a dozen 3D discs currently available.
Related: Panasonic Aims for 3D TV Dominance
3DTV Shipments to Reach 46 Million in 2013
You can bet that by 2010, there will be many choices dotting the 3D landscape, but will those choices be affordable enough to get consumers to actually go out and buy a new TV, Blu-ray player or gaming console?
According to a survey by In-Stat, it doesn't seem likely. While more than 64 percent of those surveyed were at least somewhat interested in 3D technology, only about 25 percent were willing to spend extra for the 3D technology. In fact, 43 percent said they’d like to spend less than $200 for it. However, when it came to 3D content, 67 percent of respondents said they’d be willing to pay more for a 3D version of a Blu-ray disc then a 2-D version.
So how big will the premiums be for 3D TVs, players and discs? Manufacturers are keeping pricing info close to their chests. Although Sony and Panasonic both plan to release their first 3D models in 2010, neither company would comment on the expected price tag of those units. At $2,199, Mitsubishi’s 65-inch (WD65837) 3D-ready TV is priced lower than other 65-inch 2D TVs currently on the market.
Besides price, what else could hinder 3D sales? Having to wear those dorky glasses, perhaps? Not likely, says a study by Quixel Research. The study found that while some consumers consider the glasses a nuisance, they’re not annoying enough to most to break the deal. Still, when given a choice, many said they would pay more for a 3D TV that requires no glasses. Comfy? Yes. The best option? Probably not.
One of the major disadvantages of 3D technology that requires no glasses is poor viewing angle, says David Naranjo, Mitsubishi director of product development. "Once the viewing angle is off center, the consumer loses the 3D effect."
What might be more of a roadblock, though, is the availability of 3D content, namely 3D content besides movies. "Sports would be a killer app," says Bob Scaglione, Sharp senior vice president of product and marketing group.
According to the Blu-ray Disc Association, there are fewer than a dozen 3D discs currently available.
Related: Panasonic Aims for 3D TV Dominance
3DTV Shipments to Reach 46 Million in 2013
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About the Author
Lisa Montgomery has been writing about home technology for 15 years, with a focus on the impact of electronics on a modern lifestyle.
2 Comments
“At $2,199, Mitsubishi’s 65-inch (WD65837) 3D-ready TV is priced lower than other 65-inch 2D TVs currently on the market.”
That’s very misleading given that other 65” 2d sets is referring to flat panel tvs, while the Mitsubhishi is a rear projection set.
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The one interesting thing that no one is talking about is the actual 3D viewing experience itself. This is what people will pay more money for. Right now, there is a premium charge to see 3D movies in the theatres due to the extraordinary quality of the image. The same goes for 3DTV. Not all are created equal. For instance, the Mitsubishi TV, while being low-priced has the worst quality 3D imaging due to the image processing that is utilized to create the 3D image. It essentially cuts the resolution in half. The same goes for LG and Samsung. These manufacturers also provide a vsync port which is connected to an external IrDA transmitter to synchronize shuttered glasses with individual frames. When these manufacturers say their televisions are “3D-ready”, they are essentially saying they have a vsync port on the back of the set, and support various half-resolution formats such as checkerboard, side by side, or top and bottom. I am not aware of what Sony is doing.
However, I believe that Panasonic is the only company touting that they have achieved full HD (1080p) resolution for 3DTV. This is the essentially the same viewing experience one would expect in the theatre.
The other issue is bringing the 3D content to the home. Gamers have enjoyed a pseudo-3D experience for years using PC-bounded software technology that essentially cuts the horizontal and vertical resolution in half in a checkerboard pattern to create a “shadow-box” like 3D effect. This is what Samsung does at the moment. This is not true 3D. This technology exists right now and has never really been embraced due to the aforementioned quality issues.
Like all new technology, there is an introduction period for the new 3DTV technology which will give high-end consumers the first shot at it. These are usually more discriminating buyers and want the best possible experience. As the word gets out from these consumers and production ramps up, the prices will go down, and the demand will increase. This is really the “big-bet” in the industry right now. MSO’s are already ramping up to meet the broadcast demand for 3DTV. In short, 3DTV is not going away, and only the best technology will survive the war.