|
Cinema leads the way in opening up 3D - but TV, games and mobile are not far behind
The next few years will see accelerating growth in the use of 3D technologies across a range of communication and entertainment platforms.
Working with Sony Corporation, FIFA is to produce the world's first FIFA World Cup in 3D. FIFA will utilise Sony's content production techniques to bring a radically new dimension to the broadcasting of one of the world's greatest sporting events. From 2010, Sony will be incorporating 3D
compatibility into a wide range of consumer products such as Bravia LCD TV, Blu-ray Disc recorders and players, VAIO and PlayStation®3, to provide a multitude of ways in which 3D content - from 3D movies to stereoscopic 3D games - can be enjoyed in the home.
By having viewers around the world experience 3D content from the World Cup tournament, Sony hopes to accelerate the expansion of 3D from professionals to consumers in 2010 and beyond.
Certainly 3D seems set to become a mainstream dimension of cinema, television, video games and even mobile, and in all of these markets there are implications and opportunities for advertisers. Although user numbers may be comparatively low now, independent research reports indicate that growth may be so rapid that 3D use will indeed be widespread in homes in many developed countries by as early as 2013/14.
3D has already helped generate a significant upswing in cinema attendances - but there are signs that the early effects are now beginning to wear off. No doubt Hollywood studios will continue to invest heavily in the revived technology, and it appears that this time the medium has got it right. The history of cinema is littered with stereoscopic white elephants - attempts such as the Parallax Stereogram of 1900, MGM's Audioscopics (1936), Stereovision (circa 1973) and other less than impressive versions which went off like a damp squib in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
|
|
|
It's the cinema industry's embracing of digitalisation that makes the current move into 3D so much more significant and the user experience so much more impressive. But whereas early use of 3D in this latest incarnation boosted audiences by a factor of five or six versus non-3D versions of the same film, more recent figures are suggesting a factor of no more than 1.4 or 1.5. If and when 3D eventually becomes the norm for cinema film exhibition, it will have ceased to have this multiplier effect.
Nonetheless, whilst 3D cinema still has the edge over 3D television both in terms of availability and because of the sheer size and scale of its screens, it will almost certainly continue to pull in big audiences keen to experience the immersive qualities of stereoscopic films such as Avatar and other Hollywood 3D blockbusters, including (for 2010) Toy Story 3, Shrek Forever After and Tron Legacy. And let's not ignore the industry's efforts to improve the cinema experience more generally, via (for instance) cinema-based on-screen games (including audience participation), live events and the advertising opportunities offered via multimedia strategies incorporating online and TV.
3D mobile technology is in its infancy but may well receive much greater attention from manufacturers if stereoscopy proves to be a real money-spinner in the worlds of TV and cinema: Nokia Research Center has already demonstrated a natural real-time 3D movie playback on a modified Nokia N800 internet tablet with an integrated auto-stereoscopic display. The prototype was showcased at IEEE 3DTV-CON and Nokia World 2008.
It will be interesting to see how far 3D has progressed by the time of the next Olympics, especially in relation to mainstream uptake of the technology by advertisers.
For our full contact details, please click here.
Download brochure 
|
|
