CES — 3D TV It Is?

On the opening day of the Consumer Electronics Show, CES, in Las Vegas, all the big names unveiled 3D TVs. Industry experts said the picture looks promising with a survey revealing projections that approximately 3.4 million 3D TV sets will be sold in the U.S. this year.

“It’s a challenging market. We need something to kick us out of this,” said Panasonic‘s Elsuke Tsuyuzaki.

“2009 is a year none of us want to repeat,” said Gary Shapiro, the president of the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) which hosts the annual tech gathering. The association has predicted that for the coming year, the entire consumer electronics industry should eke out a slight revenue increase of 0.3 percent. The rise of US$440 million will take expected revenues to US$165.3 billion). However, Mrs Shapiro noted that lower average selling prices for TVs will be a drag — CEA expects TV revenues to decline 2 percent in this sector to US$22.1 billion, even though unit sales will go up 5 percent to 37.7m.

For several years, the industry has talked up the arrival of 3D TV in the home to little effect. Many, however, believe 2010 really is the breakthrough year for the technology, helped in large party by the growing number of 3D movies at the theatre and the success of James Cameron‘s science fiction epic, Avatar. “While 3D has taken a number of years to penetrate in the movie theatres, I believe this is the year it will begin to enter the home,” Jeffrey Katzenberg, the head of Dreamworks Animation, told BBC News.

The Discovery Channel said that it is forming a joint venture company with Sony and IMAX to deliver 3D TV channels. U.K. satellite operator BSkyB said it is also planning to launch a 3D service later this year and ESPN said it will show at least 85 sports events this year on its new ESPN 3D channel. Panasonic revealed a tie-up with top U.S. satellite provider DirecTV to launch three HD 3D TV channels by June to try and jump-start demand for 3D TVs and content. (Source: BBC)