A senior official from Japanese TV manufacturer Panasonic claimed that the adoption of 3D TVs has been hampered as a result of greedy Hollywood studios churning out what he described as “shoddy” 3D movies, effectively destroying any good first impressions or expectations consumers initially harboured for the display format, leading to poor sales figures.
According to Panasonic UK’s marketing director Andrew Denham, the urgency with which Hollywood movie studios have inundated cinemas with 3D versions of blockbusters has had a negative impact on the industry, adding that many 3DTV makers are now paying the price for the low quality of 3D movies that was prevalent at a time when the display technology was trying to take off. Explaining his viewpoint, he said that the sluggish sales of 3D-capable HDTV sets can be traced back to a lack of end-user confidence in the quality of the content.
Speaking at the Intellect Consumer Electronics Conference 2011 in London last week, Mr Denham stressed the importance of offering high-quality tri-dimensional content. He said the whole attraction of watching in the third dimension came down to quality, and slammed Hollywood for flooding the theatres with substandard 3D films following the success of James Cameron’s hit movie Avatar. He noted: “What we need now is the next level, the next Avatar. And that’s a big ask, I think.”
Agreeing with Mr Denham’s remarks, Sky 3D’s channel director John Cassy commented that it was all too easy to make bad 3D content. He said that first and foremost the quality and plot of the story had to be considered, rather than the focus being put on the fact that was it was 3D, and the quality of the movie being left as an afterthought. The pair of them clearly believe that the subpar quality of 3D movies from Hollywood fat cats who are simply out to make a fast buck has dented consumers’ confidence in the technology, which has naturally impacted on 3D TV uptake.
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