❗Let's close the gap: We still need your help to raise $40,000 by April 1. Donate now

3-D will be ready before the viewer

Stacey Vanek Smith Apr 5, 2010
HTML EMBED:
COPY

3-D will be ready before the viewer

Stacey Vanek Smith Apr 5, 2010
HTML EMBED:
COPY

TEXT OF STORY

Bill Radke: When the Masters Golf Tournament starts this week, it’ll get even more attetnion than usual with the return of Tiger Woods. More interesting that that I think is that for the first time, the tournament is being broadcast in 3-D. Except only a few thousand people have 3-D sets and the glasses and the right cable connection. So why spend all that money to film and broadcast in three dimensions? Marketplace’s Stacey Vanek-Smith reports.


Stacey Vanek-Smith If you broadcast an event in 3-D, but nobody is equipped to actually watch it in 3-D, was it worth all the trouble?

Absolutely, says James McQuivey, media analyst with Forrester Research:

James McQuivey: Consumers aren’t ready, they don’t have the TV sets, but when they do, the 3-D content industry wants to be ready, and so they have to do things like this.

McQuivey says networks have to get the hang of filming in 3-D, cable companies have to get used to broadcasting events in 3-D, and everybody wants to get consumers used to thinking about the technology. ESPN has plans to broadcast about 40 sporting events in 3-D this year.

It’s a big investment, but McQuivey says the industry wants to make this work:

McQuivey: It solves a big problem that they have, which is they think the Internet is making all of their dramas and comedies and news shows less valuable.

Right now, a 3-D set costs between $2,000 and $7,000. Not to mention the glasses, which are at least $50 a pop. But prices are coming down, and by 2014, it’s estimated about a quarter of TV sets in the U.S. will be 3-D ready.

I’m Stacey Vanek-Smith for Marketplace.

There’s a lot happening in the world.  Through it all, Marketplace is here for you. 

You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible. 

Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.