All eyes on Blu-ray at Las Vegas

4 Jan 2011

Since launching at the CES in 2010, 3D Blu-ray is firing on all cylinders, bringing 3D into the home.

An article in the Hollywood Reporter today suggests that the annual Consumer Electronics Show, which is being held at the Vegas Convention Center this week, will be shining a light on the potential for 3D TV to impact on our home entertainment trends, amongst the latest leading-edge consumer technologies to watch out for.

According to the report, there are about 30 3D movie titles currently in retail stores, and players have been created by consumer electronics manufacturers, including LG, Panasonic, Samsung, Sony, Toshiba and Vizio.

Swift take-up of 3D

Since the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) formed a 3D taskforce comprised of industry stakeholders to develop a 3D technical spec last spring, it took only eight months for the spec to be agreed upon and completed, said the report.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen an association turn out a spec in such rapid time,” said Andy Parsons, US chairman of the BDA’s promotions committee and senior vice-president, product planning at Pioneer Home Entertainment Group.

“The alternative would have been two or three different ways to do 3D on a disc – and that’s death to a format. Everyone understood that could happen. We avoided what could have been an ugly, messy situation,” he added.

“We will see large 3D (Blu-ray) theatrical releases, timed day-and-date with their 2D Blu-ray counterparts,” said Rich Marty, vice-president, new business marketing at Sony.

Declining spend on home entertainment in US

A report on Bloomberg today reveals that spending  on DVDs, Blu-ray discs and video-on-demand in the US fell about 4pc in 2010. It said this was due to growth in newer formats slowing the decline in the home entertainment industry.

According to preliminary estimates from IHS Screen Digest, sales topped US$18bn, down from US$19.2bn in 2009.

Carmel Doyle was a long-time reporter with Silicon Republic

editorial@siliconrepublic.com