With the success of 3D movies like Avatar, electronics players such as Samsung, Philips, LG, Sony and Panasonic are introducing 3D TVs in the country.
Our eyes don’t have brains. Literally! They are spaced apart, hence our left and right retinas see objects at slightly different angles. Our brain, however, works differently. It merges these two images into a single three-dimensional (3D) image. One image is intended for the left eye, the other for the right.
Electronics players, who long realised this, are recreating this experience of depth on television with a 3D TV which displays two separate but overlapping images of the same scene simultaneously, and at slightly different angles as well.
Korean electronics major Samsung, for instance, claims the honour of having launched the world’s first 3D TV. The company has started mass production of 3D Light Emitting Diode (LED) and 3D liquid crystal display (LCD) screens for 40-inch, 46-inch and 55-inch full High Definition (HD) 3D TVs. In India, the company has already launched 10 models of 3D TVs.
The Samsung 3D LED television range is available in the screen size between 40-inch to 65-inch, priced in the range between Rs 130,000 and Rs 435,000 while the 3D LCD series is available in 46-inch and 55-inch screen sizes with prices between Rs 129,000 and Rs 186,900. Samsung also has a 63-inch 3D Plasma TV priced at Rs 300,000.
A pair of “Active Glasses” (sold separately) helps viewers perceive the two 2D images as one 3D image. These glasses use a shutter technique to quickly block the left eye, and then the right, in sync with the TV which also alternates between left and right images rapidly. Hence, the brain perceives no gaps. The glasses help the mind merge the two images into one, creating a 3D effect. Samsung offers two forms of 3D glasses — battery-operated and rechargeable.
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R Zutshi, deputy managing director of Samsung India, says the company is aiming to sell 300,000 LED TVs this year. He claims: “Close to 10 per cent of LED TVs (which is 30,000 units) will be 3D TVs. We are already the market leaders in flat panel TVs in the Indian market just as we are in the global market.” Samsung cites that it is a dominant player in flat panel TVs across 64 countries. Samsung in India, notes Zutshi has about 36 per cent market share and is confident of achieving 40 per cent market share by end of 2010.
The company believes 3D LED TVs comprise an emerging market in India and it has the first mover advantage. “The launch of aspirational products like 3D TVs is expected to have an image rub off on the rest of the television range,” adds Zutshi.
Realising that lack of availability of 3D content could hinder the adoption of 3D TVs, Samsung has pre-fabricated features like one-click conversion from 2D content to 3D. “The ability to convert 2D content to 3D will drive consumer preference to Samsung 3D TVs apart from other features linked with picture performance and design,” says Zutshi. Meanwhile, 3D content has already begun to make inroads in the country.
More than 16 3D movies are expected to be released in 2010, with several TV channels also planning to kick-start 3D broadcasts. Further, it is also estimated that about 20 per cent of total movies in Hollywood would be 3D by 2014 and Samsung is hoping that interest in 3D viewing would grow stronger.
Despite 3D TVs being a premium product, Zutshi says: “The demand is coming from consumers who are upgrading from LCD TVs, first-time buyers who are early adopters of technology essentially home consumers.” While the bulk of the demand is coming from the metros, Samsung has also launched a new campaign on Samsung 3D TVs and is setting up 3D displays across key premium counters all over the country to create consumer awareness and interest on 3D TVs.
As Samsung seeks to cement its dominance in the LED LCD TV market it would also have to fend off challenges from rivals that include LG, Sony, Philips and other TV vendors, which are following closely in the LED LCD TV.
LG is already fighting back by launching a slew of LED LCD TV models and is gearing up to challenge Samsung’s 3D TVs with its own 3D TV rollouts. LG plans to unveil a full-line up of 3D TVs that feature a slim frame. Sony, Panasonic and other TV makers also plan to debut 3D models although it remains to be seen how many sizes and models they will introduce.