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HDTV Almanac - Another Passive 3DTV
by Alfred Poor on January 20, 2012 Categories: 3D HDTV, Digital (DTV) Transition, Events & Tradeshows, PC & Laptop Technology

At CES 2012, Westinghouse Digital joined the ranks of manufacturers offering passive 3DTV technology, along with LG, Vizio, Panasonic, and Toshiba. The company announced that it plans to ship the 47″ W47S2TCD later this spring with a list price of $899, including four pairs of glasses. This means that this technology will now be available from one of the lower-priced brands on the market.

I don’t see this as the end of active 3D models, but I clearly expect consumers to move to passive 3D models. They now have a choice across a range of brands, features, and prices, and they are going to favor the less expensive (and no-maintenance) passive glasses over the shutter-glasses models. I don’t expect active 3DTV technology to disappear overnight, but I do expect the market share to trend rapidly in the passive 3DTV direction.

It should also be noted that this is not the first time that Westinghouse has announced this model, but I expect that it is much more likely to ship this time.

Posted by Alfred Poor, January 20, 2012 5:00 AM

Reader Commentary

Reply
Rodolfo • Jan 20, 10:38am
Regarding:

“I don’t see this as the end of active 3D models, but I clearly expect consumers to move to passive 3D models. They now have a choice across a range of brands, features, and prices, and they are going to favor the less expensive (and no-maintenance) passive glasses over the shutter-glasses models. I don’t expect active 3DTV technology to disappear overnight, but I do expect the market share to trend rapidly in the passive 3DTV direction.”

End of active-shutter? Move to passive models? Rapid trend to passive?

I rather would have written the above to reflect market facts as follows:

“A few new passive models have been announced at CES 2012. The 10% passive model market share as of Oct 2011 is relatively low compared to the active-shutter market but passive is still necessary as an “alternative”, should be announced that way, and hopefully grows for those that need it. The addition of a these new few models opens the choice and benefit th...
Reply
alfredpoor • Jan 20, 2:23pm
Rodolfo, you make good points as always, but I'm confused how you managed to interpret my forecasts as "facts". I'm looking at exactly the same market numbers that you cite, and yet, in my opinion, this is how I see the market shaping up. (Keep in mind that there was a time when 90% of all the televisions on the market were black and white; somehow we all managed to end up with color sets.)

I appreciate that you interpret the current trends differently. As my late step-father loved to say, "it's a difference of opinions that makes horse races." I'm glad that we don't agree; it gives the readers more to think about.

Alfred...

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About Alfred Poor

Alfred Poor is a well-known display industry expert, who writes the daily HDTV Almanac. He wrote for PC Magazine for more than 20 years, and now is focusing on the home entertainment and home networking markets.

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