The future for TV

As you will no doubt be aware, Sky has launched a 3D service in the last few days and have been showing a very wet golf match. At the same time experts are still saying that 3D will never take off properly in homes due to the cost and the fact that everyone watching would need the special glasses.

Another area that is being worked on is SuperHD, a concert by the Charlatans was recently filmed and broadcast in this standard to a Japanese audience, and the BBC are working on plans to use it at the 2012 Olympics. This new SuperHD is 16 times sharper than the best picture we are able to watch at the moment and streams at 24GB/s. This is the direction that is predicted most developments will be made, although a TV capable of displaying the picture to it's full capacity does not yet exist. For more on this Click Here

Thanks Steve, excellent information. So all these HD televions will be outdated soon then?

The SuperHD is expected to be a standard on the shelves by 2020, so the TV's we're all buying now will be around a while, although I feel Sky's influence may show in the near future with the introduction of 3HD TV's. The price of the glasses are and will be the big obstacle, with the average family of 4 needing a set each at 100-150 each, whether sterling or euros, it's a step too far. I recently watched an interview with a CNN executive, who was saying that the cost of producing 3HD content is too prohibitive at 3 times that of 2HD. So no prizes for guessing which way they will go in the near future.

I still remain convinced that 3HD in it's present form will last about as long as Betamax and Video8. Without the backing of the industry as a whole it will have no chance of succeeding anywhere other than public locations. Remember, Video8 was backed by Sony alone, so even the big boys don't get all their own way. 3D will take off in homes when you don't need the glaases, not before, and that's a very long way off.

It will be very interesting to watch developments over the next 2 to 3 years, probably more so than the content.