A vast majority of consumers who have the chance to view 3DTV, at least on Panasonic‘s active shutter system with a plasma display, believe that 3D TV significantly improves their television viewing experience.
The survey was conducted last month (August) at Disney’s D23 Expo in Anaheim, Ca., independent research firm Frank N. Magid Associates for Panasonic.
“We’ve always said that, just as with HDTV, once consumers experience 3D TV, they will want it,” said Eisuke Tsuyuzaki, Panasonic Corporation of North America’s Chief Technology Officer.
About 71% of the more than 500 D23 Expo attendees who were queried after seeing 3DTV said that 3D TV is “much better” or “dramatically better” than 2D TV, and a whopping 99% of those surveyed perceive 3DTV to be at least “somewhat better” than standard HDTV or “2D” TV.
Half the consumers said “I wish I had this in my home,” with 27% using the word “Fabulous” to describe their sense of the 3D TV experience.
“These feelings are very reminiscent of the public’s response to HDTV in its early days.” said Mike Vorhaus, President of Magid Advisors, a unit of Frank N. Magid Associates.
Panasonic also sponsors one of a handful of full-time 3DTV channels, DirecTV’s n3D Powered by Panasonic. Others are Comcast’s Xfinity 3D Channel, ESPN 3D, and 3Net by Discovery, Sony and IMAX. That is more dedicated programming than HDTV had at this point in the life cycle of that format.
Meanwhile, LG has been conducting its own consumer tests in retail centers in New York, Chicago, Arcadia, Ca.. near Los Angeles, and elsewhere, comparing its passive 3DTV system to active-shutter systems of Sony and Samsung. The company claims that the informal responses from the 9.507 participants in the “3D TV Challenge,” who are not shown any brand names, mirror an independent consumer study in May in which four out of five consumers choose LG 3DTVs for best color and brightness, while three out of four prefer LG’s picture quality and 3D glasses.
At Westfield Santa Anita mall in Arcadia Sept. 8-11, more than 3,300 people viewed both types of 3D TVs over a four-day period, with 78% saying they prefer LG.
Jan Ruiz of Arcadia, preferred LG because she felt it was “much deeper and more crisp than the Samsung.”
— By Scott Hettrick