International 3D Society Name Change Part of ‘Natural Evolution’

The expansion, backed by founding member companies Sony, DreamWorks, Disney, Panasonic and Samsung, is a “natural evolution” for the organization, which claims 800 members from 60 companies in more than 25 countries, it said. International 3D Society co-founder Tom Cosgrove, CEO of 3net Studios, told Consumer Electronics Daily that the mission of the society has been centered around 3D to date but is also about “getting the community rallied around the technologies and creative tools” available so they can create “a more immersive experience” for consumers. On the rebranding and what it says about the future of 3D, Cosgrove said “a lot of the technologies are very complementary.” He said 4K TVs coming into homes will also have 3D capability and offer a higher-resolution 3D experience in the home “with glasses.”

Dan Schinasi, co-chairman of the International 3D Society and senior marketing manager for TV product planning at Samsung, reiterated what TV marketers have been saying for the past couple of years about 3D: that it’s a “complementary feature” found in premium TVs. He added, “Ultra HD TVs included.” The industry needs to “educate retailers and consumers that the step to an Ultra HD TV does not mean one must forgo features” including Smart TV or 3D, Schinasi told us.

On where the society is now versus where it expected to be at this point in the 3D timeline, Cosgrove said 3D in the home has been challenged by its need for “work on the consumer’s part to understand competing technologies” including active and passive glasses. “Any time you're asking the consumer to figure out which one you're creating a bit of a barrier,” he said, and the effort to experience 3D in the home requires more of an effort than “simply going from Channel 21 to Channel 22.” He said from the organization’s research and focus groups there’s still “tremendous interest” in 3D and “once it gets to the point where the technology is seamless” and as simple as going “from SD to HD,” adoption will be more widespread. He cited early versions of glasses-free 3D at CES, where attendees had to stand on black footprints to view early models of auto stereoscopic 3D TVs, and if they veered slightly off course, the experience suffered quite a bit. Now, he said, “The pace of change in glasses-free has been pretty rapid,” he said. “It’s still not perfect but we're getting closer and closer,” Cosgrove said, predicting a timetable for glasses-free TVs selling for “a couple of thousand dollars or less” in less than five years.

Schinasi, who said Samsung is still a proponent of active-shutter 3D glasses technology, said glasses-free 3D is still “a few years out.” There’s “more to it than just a 4K panel, optics and tuning” to get the kind of experience consumers expect, he said, but 4K resolution will actually facilitate the advance of 3D, he said. “The higher the resolution, the more stereo pairs you can obtain” and the more people who can enjoy 3D from different positions in a room, he said. The higher resolution “eliminates the need to be in the exact sweet spot,” he said. While the digital signage industry is using auto stereo displays in some applications, “a 3D experience with glasses will be the norm for now” in the home, Schinasi said.

While ESPN’s decision to pull out of 3D programming was “saddening,” Schinasi said 3D has enjoyed “significant success.” In theaters, 3D movies are tracking to have their best year ever, and studios have found 3D to be a “successful tool in storytelling,” he said. Despite the availability of 3D in most premium TVs, “not everyone has discovered the feature but many have,” Schinasi said, and “a record number of 3D glasses for home viewing are forecast to sell this year.” Ultra HD is expected to add another layer to 3D viewing through higher resolution, which adds “greater picture detail,” he said.