The NPD Group: U.S. Consumers Looking for 3-D Home Video Options

Pixar’s new film, Up, is tearing up the box office, partially due to its high-impact 3-D experience. According to a recent survey of U.S. consumers conducted by The NPD Group, a leading market research company, a significant percentage (17 percent) of home-video consumers report that they would like to watch 3-D movies in their own homes.

“As they encounter new methods of watching movies, and new film technologies, home video aficionados will begin to expect the same experience in-home as in the theater, not unlike the evolution of surround sound,” said Russ Crupnick, entertainment industry analyst for NPD. “Although usage and interest in some of these formats is low today, we expect they will grow as the technology improves -- and as consumers become more familiar with the latest available options.”

According to NPD’s “Entertainment Trends in America” consumer tracking studies, other movie choices that were popular with home video users were as follows:
- Video on demand (VOD) available on TV the same day it's released on disc (24 percent).
- A DVD or Blu-ray with a digital file of the movie/TV show that can be viewed on a portable device or computer (14 percent).
- A paid digital download that can be burned to a DVD for personal viewing (14 percent).
- Watching an advertising-supported movie on a social networking site for free (12 percent).
- Downloading a movie through a videogame console (8 percent).
- Downloading or streaming a video to watch on a mobile phone or smartphone (4 percent).

Source: The NPD Group