3D and Television. An ill-fit.

I’m still not sold on the 3D experience.

Avatar was supposed to be the game changer. The film that would make me a believer as to the possibilities within the 3D viewing experience. Now, I enjoyed Avatar quite a fair bit and while the depth of the image on screen was amazing, the entire experience simply heightened the fact that the reason why film and television has such a strong engagement factor is driven simply by having compelling content.

With Avatar having made such a large amount of money at the box office, film production companies are embracing 3D quickly, believing that it will lead to similar windfalls. Sure, some films will benefit initially from the 3D capability, but as audiences get used to the technology, and are put off by the more expensive ticket prices, it is unlikely that 3D will really be all that beneficial to the industry.

Of course, TV manufacturers are jumping on the three dimensional bandwagon also by announcing a number of 3D capable TV units. 3D television, however, can only really be valuable for occasional content. It’s certainly never going to become the standard. Consider how you watch TV at home. Rarely are you entirely focused on the screen, but rather you are taking care of other tasks at the same time. Cooking dinner, talking to loved ones, browsing the Internet, etc. Because of the special glasses used, 3D requires ones full attention on the screen. For the occasional movie/sports event 3D may be a great addition to ones loungeroom, but is it really worth the cost of a TV set upgrade?

What is exciting and the future of television sets is the Internet capable units that are ready to hit shelves. Earlier this week, Sony announced a product for their Bravia television range. Shipping on 21 out of 26 new Bravia television models will be the Bravia Internet Video platform, which will deliver 15 IPTV channels.

This Sony launch heralds the beginning of a change in the way that a television set functions for consumers in Australia. No longer will a television serve simply as a device by which to broadcast the vision from a TV broadcast or whatever device you hook up to it, but rather it will function in its own right as a gateway to online content. Various widgets (similar to a smartphone application) will be pre-installed that will serve as gateways to online content, such as YouTube and Yahoo7. As the user experience for sets like this develops, its more than likely that viewers will be able to install their own widgets, opening up their TV sets to an entire Internet of possibility. Imagine, for example, using your TV to access a website like Hulu?

3D television seems like a nice novelty, but the one thing viewers really desire is content of value to them. Internet capable televisions are what is exciting about the future of TV.