John D. Lowry, co-founder TrioScopics, Inc.

But wait, there’s more. Blu-ray players don’t handle broadcast, so you’ll need another new 3D box in order to see the football or soccer game – once that 3D box actually becomes available <from systems that don’t already offer it such as DirecTV, Comcast, and AT&T U-verse>.

When you consider today’s economy and that current 3D television sets are priced from $2,500 to $6,000, it’s clear that 3D television equipment buyers need to be in an elite class, certainly throughout this year and probably the next. According to a recent study by NPD Group, roughly three out of every 1,000 TV sets sold in the U.S. during the first three months of 2010 were 3D-capable. Add to this the small number of 3D titles that will be available in the next year, targeting all markets from young children to horror: a mere 20 to 30. Now that is a tough market.

It is true that, as with HD sets, economies of scale will bring prices down eventually. But contrary to the hype created by the consumer electronics industry since January, any change of this magnitude will take time. The best estimates are that it will be several years for the number of television sets in homes to reach critical mass, yet that market penetration is essential to the success of a significant Blu-ray 3D movie launch.

Please keep in mind that I am the last person to be against new and better hardware. Most of my career has been focused on the invention and deployment of new technology. But one of the lessons I have learned many times over the last 50 years is that you have to be realistic about how long it takes for a real, new market to develop. The bottom line: Until that market is large enough to be viable, content owners need an alternative way to make money.

The theatrical 3D market is white hot today. Avatar, Alice in Wonderland and other titles are driving demand for 3D content for the home right now, and the consumer electronics industry sees a new pot of gold to pursue. But the inevitable time required to sell and install that critical mass of 3D equipment in the home means missed opportunities, and a lot of money down the drain for content owners.

The good news is that there are solutions to this market problem that can be implemented today. These solutions do not require a new TV set or new hardware. The demand is there and the technology exists to satisfy that demand. The studios are in the process of understanding this equation. When they see that they can capture some of those potential earnings today, as opposed to waiting for consumers to upgrade yet again, the market will adapt.

For example, there are nearly two billion DVD players in the marketplace. There is no plan on the part of the consumer electronics industry to “upgrade” any DVD equipment. Here is a massive market that already exists — a market that can be served with surprisingly excellent 3D image quality using existing hardware today. If the user’s hardware has built-in up-res to HD capability, the 3D results can be quite amazing.

I’ve been watching consumer electronics markets for a long time. What I’m seeing right now is the cure for upgrade fatigue.

Editor’s note: John D. Lowry, best known for his highly-regarded HiDef film restoration company Lowry Digital that he founded and then sold. His breakthroughs in imaging science have been utilized in everything from Apollo moonwalk images to “Avatar,” earning him numerous patents and awards. He is co-founder of TrioScopics, Inc., which creates the kind of 3D images using current TVs and DVD players that he is advocating above. Lowry was interviewed on video by 3DHollywood.net last November about his background, successes, and TrioScopics.

Larry Stewart

That took place only a couple of weeks ago at the Mann Bruin Theater in Westwood, Calif. The theater’s listed capacity is 696, and the place was packed.

At the conclusion of HBO’s magnificent “Magic & Bird: A Courtship of Rivals,” every single person there stood and clapped. This documentary, which debuts on HBO Saturday, March 6 (9 p.m. ET, 6 p.m. PT), is that good. Remember to set your DVR. This film is as fine a documentary as I’ve ever seen. It’s HBO quality as its best.

I was at the screening with my wife as a guest of HBO publicist Ray Stallone, who remains a dear friend even though I’m no longer with the L.A. Times.
I’m so glad he invited us.

In the documentary, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird are followed somewhat simultaneously through their basketball careers and beyond. It is some 90 minutes of riveting TV that includes classic footage and candid interviews with the principles.

College and NBA superstars Magic Johnson and Larry Bird; their college and NBA rivalry and relationship on and off the court is profiled in an HBO documentary playing multiple times this month.

The only flaw I found was that there is a little too much reliance on sportswriters who covered these two superstars. Having worked as sportswriter in Los Angeles for nearly 40 years – no, I’m not one of the sportswriters in the film – I got to know Magic fairly well, particularly after he got into broadcasting.

I knew very little about Bird – I think that is the case with just about everyone – and that is what made this film so fascinating for me. Bird is usually taciturn and only willing to talk about basketball – nothing personal. HBO Sports president and executive producer Ross Greenburg, producer Rick Bernstein and their staff somehow got Bird to open up.

Listening to Bird during the screening reminded me of Jerry West. Both had difficult, secluded childhoods, both have complex personalities and both are perfectionists to a fault. When Bird talked, I could envision West saying exactly the same thing. They even sound alike.
Bird talks about his childhood, including his father Joe’s suicide. Over past dinners at a popular sports hangout, Phil Trani’s in Long Beach, West has confided about his tenuous relationship with his father. Both fathers had drinking problems.
Bird said that, as a child, he didn’t know that everybody had a family car. “I was in a cocoon,” he says.

Magic and Bird have two distinctive personalities – as different as night and day. But amazingly a friendship developed over time. When Magic tested HIV positive in 1992, Bird called him. Magic tears up in the film when talking about that phone call.
Magic was at the screening and afterwards said, “This is the third time I have seen this film, and I cry every time.”

One complaint about the screening took place beforehand when former and current Lakers in the audience were introduced, along with some movie stars. One of the movie stars I’d never even heard of.
Sitting not far from us was Bill Sharman and his wife Joyce. This basketball legend was not introduced.
Sharman is one of only three men in the Basketball Hall of Fame as both a player and a coach. John Wooden and Lenny Wilkens are the other two. Sharman was named one of the 50 greatest players in NBA history in 1997. He played for the Boston Celtics (Bird’s team) and at different times was coach, general manager and president of the Los Angeles Lakers (Magic’s team). At 83, Sharman still works for the Lakers as a special consultant.
Magic came to the Lakers when Bill Sharman was the team’s general manager. If not for Sharman, Magic would have never been a Laker.

In 1979, the Lakers had the New Orleans Jazz’s No. 1 pick because of a Gail Goodrich trade. The Jazz finished last in the West, the Chicago Bulls did likewise in the East. Which team got the No. 1 overall pick was determined by a coin flip.
Because of a fan promotion, the Bulls wanted the right to call the coin even though it was the West team’s turn to make the call.  Sharman, an extremely nice gentleman, obliged. Sharman said he would have called heads. Instead, the Bulls’ GM, Rod Thorn, called heads. The coin came up tails.
The Lakers got Magic. The Bulls got UCLA’s David Greenwood.
And Bill Sharman, to this day, gets little recognition.

Longtime L.A. Times sports TV columnist Larry Stewart continues to cover many sports, including horse racing and golf, for various publications, and writes a regular blog for a website in his home town called ArcadiasBest.com featuring fun reading about everything from his ongoing fascinating visits with sports legends to his favorite restaurants, watering holes, and vacation spots.