3D Television: Not If, but How and When

Just when you thought your brand-new 48-inch flatscreen HD television set would stay put long enough to collect a fine layer of dust, get ready for 3D television! The technology exists; but as with any new format, the device is useless without the content. One analyst believes European consumers, at least, will have access to a cornucopia of 3D programming by 2011.

Fat chance, says a rival market analyst, who challenged the former analyst's claim in a recent article by edgy UK tech journal The Register. Not that 3D sets aren't available -- they are -- but first the competing manufacturers must sit down and amicably decide on a standard so that broadcasters have an incentive to create 3D content in the first place (see also HD DVD and Betamax).

Once that's sorted out, broadcasters and content producers still need the reassurance that a critical mass of viewers actually has 3D-capable television sets and are interested in using the technology. Game developers, naturally, are giddy about the prospect of 3D games and already are giving demonstrations at trade shows.

As for 3D versions of our favorite television shows -- imagine Iron Chef America, with twirling knives and flames seemingly inches from your nose -- it probably will take a while longer. And when that happens, look for all those plasma screen TVs piled up next to the discarded Christmas trees.