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I recently attended the Blu-Con 2.0 conference in Los Angeles and listened to a variety of consumer electronics industry experts discuss the future of our entertainment.
One of the speakers was Mike Vitelli, executive vice president, consumer operations group, for Best Buy. Mr Vitelli commented that “Blu-ray players were destined to be the fastest-growing consumer electronics product in 2009, with predicted sales of 10 million units, including 4.1 million PS3 consoles, rising to 18.6 million units expected to be sold in 2010, many with Internet video capability. (I'm pictured with Mike Vitelli above).
Compared to the corresponding period when DVD appeared in the market, the Blu-ray player sales growth is matching or exceeding DVD sales. Expect 3D Blu-ray (3D-BD) to make big news in 2010. What is interesting here is the fact that the 3D Blu-ray specs will be display format agnostic. This means that it won’t make any difference whether the display is Plasma or LCD, or it needs the use of active or passive glasses.
The specifications will require that all 3D capable displays will use the same signal. By doing this, there will not be a “3D Blu-ray” war among the companies with different approaches in the implementation of 3D into their panels (Panasonic, Sony, Sharp, etc.). This also means that if you buy a 3D-BD player, it will work with all properly marked 3D display technologies.
In addition, all 3D-BD discs will be backwards compatible with current Blu-ray players, so the disc will include both a 3D version in the new spec and a standard 2D version for current players. The 3D-BD spec will also require full 1080p signal delivery for each eye. The first 3D panels are expected to be commercialized by June and PS3 remains a candidate supporter of the 3D Blu-ray format through a firmware upgrade.
During Blu-Con 2.0, Panasonic held regular demonstrations of its Full HD 3D Home Theater System, which utilizes Plasma technology and a prototype Blu-ray player to deliver 1080p 3D images. Commented Eisuke Tsuyuzaki, Panasonic’s chief technology officer, “HD-3D represents the next stage of audio-visual technologies for the home beyond high-definition.”
The truck-based demo included 3D extracts from Fox Film/Lightstorm Entertainment’s promotion of director James Cameron’s Avatar, the industry’s first live-action 3D movie released on December 18. In addition to a Blu-ray release of Avatar in 2010/11, it is expected that Sony Pictures will be offering a 3D version of Michael Jackson’s This Is It some time next year. 2010 should prove to be an exciting year for 3D tech. Stay tuned!
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