Mark Harrison, controller for BBC North, has said he believes “3D TV is dead.”
Writing in a column for Broadcast, Harrison took a look at the latest technology and trends emerging from CES 2013 and was interested to note that 3D had taken a back seat this year.
“Last year, some still insisted you couldn’t operate in the future without a pair of 3D glasses, but now the specs are being reserved for gaming and movies at the cinema” wrote Harrison.
In its place, Harrison suggested that 4K/Ultra HD is the technology that will come to dominate both in terms of consumer buy-in and in the investment needed by content makers.
“We are years away from being able to make and transmit in 4K, yet it matters far more than 3D ever did: it enables manufacturers to focus on making bigger, better, normal TVs,” he writes. “That means that while budgets get tighter, the need to make high-quality digital output that can hold its own on a screen next to on demand 4K movies will ensure production remains ambitious.”
- Read our own feature on why Ultra HD is the future, but not quite ready just yet