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MillimeterStereo Hype
Feb 18, 2009 12:00 PM, By Trevor Boyer
Stereoscopic 3D is enjoying a renaissance in theaters, but what are its prospects for the rest of the video production market?
Home Adoption
Will the home market be ready for 3D any time soon? The stereoscopic content producers I've spoken with sure hope so. A lot of pots are coming to a boil at once: The dropping prices of suitable HD cameras make lower-budget independent S3D productions possible; the preponderance of 3D-friendly post software means postproduction in stereo isn't such a black art anymore; CES 2009 saw another crop of consumer flatscreens that are 3D-ready; starting this year, every Pixar and DreamWorks animated release will get a 3D theatrical run — and those studios will undoubtedly want to repurpose the stereoscopic versions as home releases.
Early adopters might soon take the plunge — the first blockbuster videogame that's viewable in 3D is going to drive the purchases of 3D-ready television sets. (Avatar's companion videogame will be in 3D, according to Director James Cameron.) The technologically adventurous might even get used to the wireless liquid crystal shutter (LCS) glasses that go with the 3D sets from Samsung and Mistubishi.
But the big question now is how autostereoscopy will come to the home. Few observers believe that the glasses approach is viable for mainstream viewers. (Among other concerns, who's going to have a dozen sets of LCS glasses lying around for the Super Bowl party?) For now, the price premium for a lenticular overlay is simply too much for a technology with extremely little associated content. And 3D effects simply aren't as eye-popping in autostereo as they are when viewed with glasses. That's a technological problem without a clear solution.
The other big problem for home viewing in stereo is obvious. Where's the content? And where's the demand for 3D content if there are as yet no viewers? It's the classic chicken-and-egg impasse that's familiar to observers of HD's adoption process. Stereographer Vic Love says he thinks that simply having an outlet for home display of stereo 3D material will help solve the problem of nonexistent content. If cable providers build a venue, stereoscopic productions will come. “This year's going to be about content producers trying to monetize their content away from the traditional theater-distribution model,” he says. “As soon as you can monetize the content, there will be a lot more produced.” Your move, networks and cable providers.
— T.B.
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