Televisions

The TV industry couldn’t have chosen a better time to begin touting the next big development in the world of HD.

December saw the release of Avatar, James Cameron’s new science-fiction blockbuster, in 3D. Less than a month later, and with Avatar still topping movie charts around the globe, the consumer-electronics industry held its annual get-together, the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2010 in Las Vegas. This year’s show came wrapped in a thick 3D hype, with scarcely any major manufacturers failing to give us some new 3D products to sink our teeth into. The hype had been building for some time, of course – Panasonic, for example, completed its 3D road show in the UK just three days before Avatar went on general release. When you think about it, all of this seems unlikely to be mere coincidence.

Good times: RealD's technology supported the recent blockbuster Avatar, and looks set to appear in big-name HDTVs.

Avatar has already taken its place as the highest-grossing Imax feature of all time. And, given the sci-fi epic has so far taken 1.6bn USD (1bn GBP) at the box office, many expect it to surpass Titanic – also directed by James Cameron – to become the most successful film of all time.

All of this is good news for RealD 3D, the company behind the film’s 3D technology. RealD has been providing 3D technology to digital cinemas for years, and has recently teamed up with some of the world’s biggest TV manufacturers to aid development of 3D TVs for the consumer market. RealD looks set, therefore, to become a household name, while Avatar already has.

As widely expected, the CES 2010 is all about 3D TV. Well, in reality, it was pretty obvious that this would be the case!

Earlier blogs and news reports at Televisions.com have tracked RealD’s progress in teaming up with the world’s biggest TV manufacturers. The last time we reported on this, they’d bagged Sony, Samsung, and JVC. That alone was impressive, but reports have emerged from the CES that Toshiba and Panasonic are now also on board. Although Philips and LG seem to be chasing other leads, RealD has still managed to ally itself with five of the market’s biggest names. This is a near-certain indication that RealD’s format – which uses multiplexing to deliver the left and right images simultaneously – will play a part in setting a 3D TV standard. Incidentally, RealD also turned its hand to the recent 3D blockbuster “Avatar”.

Sony's new HX900 series is one of three Sony ranges of 3D TVs expected within 2010.

In other 3D news at the CES, DirecTV – also a RealD supporter – and ESPN have both announced plans to begin broadcasting in 3D within the year. ESPN has even set a time frame of June 2010 to begin its first 3D channel. Viewers in the USA will therefore have access to at least two 3D channels within the next 12 months. In the UK, as far as we know, only Sky has concrete plans to commence such broadcasts during 2010.

Various manufacturers are also presenting their 3D-ready TVs – Sony, for example, has showcased its uber-sexy new LX900, HX900, and HX800 models. We’ll bring you all the developments from this year’s show as fast as we can, either in the news section or here on the blog.