insight

Commentary

New Dimensions In Television

Three-dimensional images are expected to leap from movie theaters into living rooms this year as many electronics manufacturers get ready to unveil 3-D TV sets.

Some marketers opined that 3-D is not ready for prime-time viewing, questioning whether consumers are ready to switch from recently acquired plasma and LCD TVs, and whether their having to relearn everything they already thought they knew about TV would seem a barrier to purchase.

But that said, it may help to think about the switch like the ones you had to make from vinyl records to cassette tapes (and then again to CDs) or the switch from black-and-white TV to color (and then from standard transmission to high-def). This similar and soon-to-come viewing shift is a good example of what happens when technology meets consumer expectations. Three-dimensional viewing used to be just a gimmick, but the success of movies like "Avatar" shows that consumers would likely welcome the next, well, dimension in home entertainment if it meets -- or exceeds -- their expectations for the TV set category.

advertisement

advertisement

Who'll be the beneficiary of these innovative technological changes? Well, history (and profit statements) suggests that brands to which consumers are currently loyal have a six times greater chance of being anointed the new format brand of choice. According to the Brand Keys Customer Loyalty Engagement Index, the top brands in the HDTV LCD and Plasma category are:

LCD

1. Samsung
2. Sony
3. LG
4. Sharp
5. JVC
6. Panasonic
7. Hitachi/Toshiba
8. RCA

Plasma

1. Samsung/Panasonic
2. LG/Toshiba
3. Sony
4. Pioneer
5. Phillips/Hitachi

Samsung currently sells 3-D rear-projection TVs in the U.S., but there are currently no 3-D TV broadcasts in this country, although ESPN has said it will air at least 85 live events on a 3-D channel beginning in June. Last year, Hyundai introduced a 3-D TV in Japan, and Japanese cable stations now broadcast 3-D four times a day. Sony and Panasonic will release home 3-D television systems this year and Mitsubishi and JVC are reported to be working on 3-D products, too.

Although specifics haven't been released, the price of 3-D TV, which requires (along with a new television) broadcasting content and 3-D glasses, isn't expected to be substantially higher than some HD TVs. And in the short term, consumers and marketers will have to deal with the lack of 3-D production equipment and competing transmission standards.

We believe that the director and TV host Alfred Hitchcock would have been a supporter of 3-D TV. He once suggested that the opportunity to see a murder on television could help work off one's antagonisms, so one can only imagine that he would have felt that 3-D would add an additional dimension of help. Of course, Hitchcock also thought that if didn't have any antagonisms to begin with, the commercials would give you some!

Next story loading loading..