3D is Ready for Prime Time

“3D is not a gimmick. 3D is ready for prime-time.” So said Hollywood director James Cameron, speaking in a taped interview at a Panasonic-sponsored event at the giant Las Vegas CES show on Jan 7. Panasonic was highlighting its new range of 3D-ready home theatre TVs.

Star of the show was Panasonic’s massive (and 485 lbs in weight) 103” 3D (3D-FHD) model. This is the first time the set has been seen outside Japan. The model comes with a Blu-ray player ready to deliver 3D images to users wearing special glasses.

“This goes well beyond conventional 3D and Panasonic is fully committed to making it a reality, and soon,” said Bob Perry, EVP at Panasonic Consumer Electronics Co.

“You will no longer just be watching a movie, you'll be experiencing the realism of Hollywood film,” added Panasonic chairman Yoshi Yamada, who stressed Panasonic’s commitment to home 3D HDTV. He also called for the creation of a single standard to encourage the development of more 3D HD content. Mr Yamada said Panasonic’s target for adoption of a standard was the end of 2009, “so that we can start our 3D product business in 2010.” He said a 3D Blu-ray authoring system was currently in development that would enable Hollywood studios to create titles by next year, and that Panasonic Hollywood Laboratory planned to complete a 3D Authoring Center by Feb. 1.

By Chris Forrester, Rapid TV News