TI uses the 3-D lure to draw consumer attention back to DLP

Implications: • A 3-D renaissance is taking place in the cinema due to the introduction of DLP digital projection in theatres. • 3-D to the home has its challenges: no standards, difficult to produce, only DLP can display 3-D out-of-the-box. • TI's push to use 3-D to increase DLP sales in the home could easily backfire as consumers recognize the hollow promise.

Analysis: A 3-D renaissance is taking place in the cinema due to the introduction of digital projection coupled with the desire of both major motion picture directors and theatre owners to use 3-D to differentiate the cinema from the home.  TI's DLP technology is perhaps the only technology capable of allowing a single projector in the theatre (or in the home) to display 3-D images, making this renaissance possible.  TI is looking for ways to use its success in the cinema to build up the appeal of its consumer products.  But the 3-D play appears to a be a bit on the desperate side.

3-D to the home has its challenges.  There are no standards for distributing 3-D to the home. There are no standards for sending 3-D images over wires to DLP or other types of displays.  3-D will impose major changes in the 3-D content production chain, limiting the sources of 3-D content.  Live 3-D is challenging to produce, due to the eye strain that can be developed with as simple an action as a camera zoom.  The chances are that 3-D will be limited to post-produced content for some time, making the movie industry the focus for highly valued 3-D content.

In this, digital 3-D in the theatre is too young to demonstrate that a long-term consumer appetite exists for 3-D content.  To many people, 3-D is still a gimmick.  It'll take time if 3-D is to prove itself as a viable media form that consumers demand.

TI has a great technology in DLP.  But the push to use 3-D to compete with LCD and plasma could easily backfire with consumers as they come to recognize the hollow promise that is being offered today.