3D is a polarizing topic, whether it’s in TV, movies, or games. I think it’s interesting (which is why I wrote this extremely long article about it), but I’ll also be the first to admit that adoption was never going to happen quickly. People just don’t buy TVs frequently enough — not to mention the fact that there were no benefits to early adoption, but plenty of drawbacks. That said, it’s hard to avoid “3D ready” TVs these days, because even budget TVs are getting the minor changes necessary to make 3D possible (120Hz processing, for instance).
And according to a study by Strategy Analytics (summarized on their blog), the 3D TVs out there are actually being used. Two thirds of the 3D TV owners they questioned watch 3D content at least once a week, and 41% watch every day. This suggests that people either enjoy what little 3D content is out there, or they feel a lot of pressure to get their money’s worth. I think these stats, heartening as they may be to TV makers, are probably a little premature, considering how 3D content is still relatively hard to come by in day-to-day programming and streaming.
The biggest gripes, predictably, were price and glasses. Nobody likes the big clunky active-shutter glasses, of course, and the majors getting together (again) to standardize the glasses hardware (again) is too little too late. Besides, we know they’ll be replacing them with cheap passive and perhaps autostereoscopic 3D soon.
As for cost, well, look at the price of a compatible set two years ago, and look at it now. The price is coming down, it’s just a matter of time — and price fixing, of course.
[via Electronista]