KOREA: 3D technology war is on, will have a winner 'by the end of the year'
Is there a 3D TV technology war between active-shutter and passive glasses systems? You bet – and the head of LG Display reckons it'll all be done and dusted by the end of this year.
The company – the world's second biggest-selling TV manufacturer – may have turned in slightly disappointing results earlier this week, but boss Kwon Young-soo (left) is bullish about the chances of its film-type patterned retarder (FPR) passive-glasses 3D technology becoming the dominant force in the global TV market.
Asked about its rivalry with Samsung, which is backing the same active-shutter frame-sequential 3D system supported by Panasonic and Sony, Kwon said that 'LG will embark on a global sales strategy for our FPR 3D TVs in the third quarter [of this year].'
And, he said, 'By the end of the year, we will see who the winner is: LG’s FPR or Samsung’s active shutter glass.'
Kwon says that whichever technology loses the battle will take a while to fade out of the picture – as he puts it, 'Once the victory is announced at the end of the year, it will take at least one or two years before the defeated is weeded out of the market'.
But he's confident that, by the end of 2012, '3D TVs will replace 2D'.
Among the reasons for Kwon's claims are the supremacy of LG's 3D sets in Korea, where it outsells Samsung two to one, and its strength in the fast-growing Chinese 3D market, where it has more than 44% of all 3D TV sales.
The company unveiled its FPR panel in Beijing in December, showing the importance it places on success in China, and has since 2008 had a joint venture with Taiwanese company AmTran Technology, manufacturing in Suzhou, in China's Jiangsu Province.
The Suzhou Raken Technology plant (above), which includes high-speed lines able to manufacture a TV from scratch in just 40min – more than three times faster than usual – is focusing on sets using the FPR technology, and expects to be making 15 passive 3D models by the end of this year, compared to just three 3D models last year.
3D TVs will account for 30% of the output at Suzhou Raken, and all will be FPR sets, with a focus on models in the popular 42in screen size. Total production at the factory is expected to rise to 13m this year, from 10m in 2010, and it's a major supplier to US top-selling LCD brand Vizio.
At the moment it supplies some 70% of all the sets Vizio sells in the States, having shipped 5m units last year, and expects to ship 7m sets to the company this year.
Suzhou Raken CEO Brian Kim expects FPR TVs to become the industry's mainstream technology in the next twelve months.
Intriguingly, he throws in the information that the company has been approached by Sony with a view to outsourcing production: 'We’ve been in talks with Sony, though we haven’t seen any substantial progress to strike an actual deal.
'Many television makers are joining ranks to expand outsourcing mainly due to cost-saving.'
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Comments
... And that was a factual answer to two questions, neither of which gave any indication of rhetoric.
that was a rhetorical question...
3d... what a waste of resources
No, arashid – existing sets will continue to work just fine.
so what are we going to do with our existing and rather expensive 2d sets? will LG/Sony/Samsung give us a refund so that we can all upgrade?
Again, the story isn't about 3D winning over 2D, but rather the battle between different ways of delivering 3D in the home. And as I have said, what Kwon is saying is that in his view 3D-capable sets will become the norm very quickly.
It'll take a good while longer before 3D content will be the norm in broadcast and movies on disc, whatever James Cameron may hope/expect.
hey wake up here Andrew,
EDITED BY MODS for abusive language
like arashid said, 3D won't win over 2D until companies like LG ditch the stupid glasses. If/when they do then they have a chance in the UK of selling plenty of sets, but not until.
Although the article is about who will win the 3D war, it clearly implies that LG expects mugs to be readly to spend a fortune on TVs to then be forced to watch 3D content wearing idiotic glasses.
"3D TVs will replace 2D" the implication is clear to all, except perhaps those out there who have more money than sense
It's really like talking to a brick wall...
HI Andrew,
oh well, the Kuro is really missed, needless to say.
I am not sure why the Kuro costs so much to make, but hopefully OLED will one day be a viable technology...?
The way prices are going, arashid, you're not going to be paying extra for a 3D TV: it's just that the top-quality TVs will be 3D capable.
And the trouble with your statement that
If they had, Pioneer wouldn't have struggled to make its TV division sums add up.
Ok Andrew fair enough. But this, and many other consumers do not want to pay extra for a 3D tv. I, and many others, will happily pay for kuro quality and/or OLED instead, even at high prices. Appreciate you are reporting this only, but my message is to the TV manufacturers. I will NOT buy a 3D TV, especially BECAUSE I have a young child and do NOT want any harm to her because of this 3D tech.
Please find another way to get us to pay towards your profits.
extra cost and potential harm to the kids? who wants to pay for this?
Dazmb
It may seem 'kind of like semantics' to you, but he's saying what he said, which is what we're reporting. The fact remains that even in Korea there isn't a complete all-3D broadcast system, so the majority of TV viewing, even by the end of next year, will be 2D.
The spin you're putting on the statement is rather bizarre, given that the story is actually about the competition between rival 3D TV formats, not that between 3D and 2D. All Mr Kwon is saying is that by the end of next year he can see a point being reached where all TVs are capable of showing 3D content, should buyers choose to watch it.
r1t35h,
Please tell me its not a 9900 series, you will be sorry the backlight issue is terrible, LG took my 55" lx9900 of six months and scrapped it!!
That seems kind of like semantics Andrew! He's saying 3D will win out over 2D. He doesn't think people won't watch it, he thinks it will be watched. I and many others are saying 3D TV won't be watched unless the goggles go at the very least. Regardless of whether the set can do 3D or not. And is that on the cards anytime soon at a price point people could afford before people get bored & apathetic to it? Not all technology pushed by the industry is a winner that takes root as you know.
At this point one mentions DAB as an example. Watching the DAB vested interests try and get that one over on us is painful like having teeth pulled.
I agree mostly with the "down with 3D" comments (in that I won't be participating in the near future way, rather than any sort of anti-3D agenda that some may have). However, I get the feeling the UK market isn't really much of a concern for the likes of LG and Samsung compared with the vast markets in Asia. So disagree all you like, but I don't think it'll change their strategy.
That's not what he said: he said that '3D TVs will replace 2D'.
Whether people will choose to use them to watch 2D or 3D, or a mix of both, is a different matter.
Shock horror!! Boss of tech manufacturer desperate to flog to gullable consumers who are slaves to 'must have in-thing' ethos another round of toys they don't know why they need, and pronounces that 3D will win out!
3D will NEVER win out over 2D until there is no need for glasses. Fact. Wearing glasses to watch telly is just a non-starter. You look silly, it's uncomfortable and if you already wear glasses very impractical too (and you look twice as silly and it's twice as uncomfortable).
And that's not much of a selling point is it really.
to be honest andrew, LCD/LED done right is "good enough" for me.
the only real upgrade from here is projectors...
3d tv is a non starter for me.
And in both products so expensive to manufacture as not to be viable.
arashid: "Please give us OLED or Kuro quality TV instead"
Absolutely.
In the Kuro we already had a benchmark that nobody could yet match, and in OLED a future technology with the possibility of surpassing it.
Yet development now seems to be mostly channelled towards 3D.
I personally am changing my panny v10 42 plasma for a lg 47 3d tv on Saturday I went to a demo for this tech twice am now sold on it.
I was skeptical about the passive not being full hd but I could not tell if I was being honest to the av snob inside me.
I found the 3d as close to my local cinema which Iam happy with.
The real battle is with 3d content availablity if you ask me!!!!
Ps can't wait to sit through tron 3d on Saturday night!!!
My real issues are when 3d is done bad ie converted clash of the titans this is what really hurts 3d overall, plus 3d can't make a film any better then it was to start off with IMHO.
it is clearly the manufacturers job to talk up 3d tv given an opportunity to sell another round of tvs
however i think there is more than a general apathy amongst home users at the moment about its overall merit as a replacement for 2d
but end of 2012 is a long way off and by then maybe we will think differrent but i have no plans to change my tv at the moment - and my wife cant stand 3d as it makes her dizzy !
I humbly disagree completely.
The war may have began, but there will only be one winner : 2D.
3D tech is still too crude, and I prefer watching movies in the cinema in 2D.
I think many other consumers are not too keen on any kind of 3D tech anyway.
Please give us OLED or Kuro quality TV instead