By Kim Tong-hyung
Staff Reporter
Three-dimensional (3D) television is expected to be available in some South Korean regions next spring. Whether the technology is ready for prime time is another question altogether, however.
The Korea Communications Commission (KCC), the country's broadcasting and telecommunications regulator, said it is talking with cable television operators over starting trial services in Seoul and the neighboring metropolitan area around next March.
Viewers will likely need special glasses to look at the 3D images at first, but the KCC plans to work with pay-television operators and electronic makers to develop 3D stereoscopic displays and content that don't require the goofy goggles.
Cable television operators have been working with the state-run Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) and other technology institutes to develop 3D television solutions, according to officials from the Korea Cable Television and Communications Association (KCTA).
CJ HelloVision is planning to pick 300 households in Seoul and Busan to start testing its 3D video-on-demand (VOD) this year. CJ plans to expand its 3D coverage to 1,000 households by 2012.
"Nothing is concrete at this point, but we do believe that cable television operators are ideally positioned to deliver 3D television to consumers, considering their interest, the availability of content, and requirements in bandwidth required to push forward the service," said a KCC official.
"Securing content will obviously be the biggest challenge, and we may consider Blu-ray disks as a way to deliver the content."
Despite concerns over technology, prices and content, 3D television has become the latest buzzword of the tech industry, with electronics makers competing to bring full 3D effects to the living room.
Japanese heavyweights such as Sony and Panasonic unveiled a number of 3D televisions at the Internationale Funkausstellung (IFA) electronics show in Berlin last week.
They are looking to leapfrog Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics, which are the leaders in the global flat-panel television market.
Samsung and LG have also released prototype models.
Cable operators and content developers, desperate to keep growth alive in the saturated pay-television market, hope 3D television provides a needed injection of energy.
Electronics makers Samsung and LG can ill-afford to sit on their laurels when Sony is hoping that a head-start in 3D television will help win back its supremacy on the global television market.
It is still unclear whether 3D will prove to be the savior of the television market. Korean companies and policymakers have yet to show any efforts to rally around technology standards, lagging behind their counterparts in Japan and Europe in this regard.
Analysts said incompatible technologies would hold back the country in the race to push 3D television out of the gate.
Existing 3D technologies, shown here or abroad, are not yet polished enough to convince the average consumer. Viewers can't be too happy about needing weird eye-ware in their living rooms. There are 3D systems that do not require glasses, with tiny lenses installed in front of the display instead. But these products may mean viewers cannot move their heads.
Even should the industry manage to get the technology right, the pricing of the televisions will be an issue.
LG's first 3D television is priced at 4.5 million won (about $3,670). It is predicted that 3D televisions will become mainstream only when the price is lowered to the 1-million-won level.
The biggest problem, clearly, is content. Through the slow start of their Internet protocol television (IPTV) services, Korean telecommunications companies are learning the hard way that consumers won't pay a premium for new, sexy technologies when the wealth of content isn't there.
Obviously, 3D television has an even longer road ahead in terms of content, despite the recent efforts by Hollywood, and this could prove a difficult obstacle, especially when tough economic times have consumers reluctant to spend on unproven technology and formats.
"The systems and hardware will eventually get there, but it is doubtful whether Korea will ever have enough 3D content developers to feed the new market," said a KCTA spokesman.
thkim@koreatimes.co.kr
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