PS3 Informer

Video Games Are Key to Success for 3D TV

Home sets that can display movies and other content in 3D are soon going to be a common feature in living rooms around the world, as long as customers buy into the new technology. Of the 15 million LCD televisions that Sony expects to sell this fiscal year, 2.5 million of those will be 3D enabled, the company claimed in a recent press release. Other manufacturers like Samsung and Panasonic will also be rolling out 3D displays this year. With diminishing margins and stiffer competition in the LCD market, TV makers are hoping that this new feature will spur consumer uptake and increase profits. On the other hand, 3D movies have existed for more than 50 years on the big screen, but there has never been a major call for the technology in the living room. Have Sony and its competitors been overcome by folly, or have they hit a home run with 3D TV?

Sony's 3D TV set works by delivering two 1080p (Full HD) pictures simultaneously on the screen. The viewer must wear a pair of glasses with alternating electronic shutters to decode the image. By feeding one image to the left eye and a different one to the right, a 3-dimensional effect is achieved. Don't worry, your $2000 TV set will still display regular high-definition broadcasts without the glasses when you aren't using it for special content.

Audience members attend a promotional event for Sony's 3D TV technology.

Retailers expect that these new 3D TV sets will sell at a 50% or higher premium over standard high-definition displays. The glasses that enable viewers to see the 3D effect will also be expensive, costing between $60 and $200 per pair.

What makes this new strategy risky is that it remains unclear whether consumers will spend the extra money for the ability to watch 3D content at home. A major problem is that a relatively small amount of content will be created for the displays, at least at the outset. The Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) is trying to add a 3D standard to the HD disc format, but the effect will only work with newer movies designed for the effect. Not all movies are well suited to 3D, either. The technology works best with animated features such as Pixar's upcoming Toy Story 3, where computer rendered images are used. In live action films the effect is harder to achieve and does not look as convincing in the end result.

Observers have often joked that pornography can make or break a new format, and that might be the case for 3D TV. But another, more mainstream application for the displays is likely to be video games. Since video games are basically interactive animated content, they look great in 3D. They can also be easily formatted to run in either 3D or normal mode, similar to the way game consoles can currently upscale to different display resolutions. Not only that, but Sony says that an upcoming firmware update should make it possible for older PS3 games to be upgraded to 3D, giving us yet another excuse to play through Uncharted.

We can imagine lots of exciting possibilities for new 3D games as well. A new Virtua Tennis that puts players right on the court would be almost a sure-fire hit and a great counterpoint to the graphically inferior Wii Sports. Similarly, first-person combat games that made tactical use of the improved positional awareness of the player would definitely be a hit with shooter fans. More casual games paired up with Sony's Move motion controller would help expand the audience for 3D and make it fun for people other than technophiles.

Sony has a definitive advantage in the 3D TV space due both the BluRay format and its Playstation 3 video game console. Sony can leverage both of these in its effort to convince consumers to upgrade from their existing 1080p High definition sets. Showing off the benefits of 3D gaming would be a great way for the company to entice early adopters, and we expect to see the company make big strides in that area soon.