In hindsight, it’s always easy to pick out a winning technology and point out the missteps for the unfortunate ones. A history lesson will point us towards when HDTV came out and it was considered a fad. Nobody wanted a wider TV; they still wanted a square tube that was larger. Now, chances are that your smartphone and coffee machine screen are in high definition. Nearly 5 years ago, Sony and others like LG, Pioneer, and Panasonic set out to bring HD via Blu-ray. It is a format that was relevant then and is relevant now with current discs being able to hold up to 50GB and prototypes that can handle over 200GB. Blu-ray has also opened the door to “Blu-ray Disc LIVE” where your movies can get updated content like trailers, behind-the-scenes, and access to interactive elements like IMDB and online chats. And of course, if it wasn’t for Blu-ray, we couldn’t really enjoy 3D content at home but of course, many nay-sayers said that Blu-ray was a fad and would be done in 5 years.

Being a supporter of all things 3D, I feel like as a culture, we have reached the same point. Many started calling 3D a fad and that it would die within a year or more. Of course, just like Blu-ray, it’s many of  the so-called established tech sites who are helping with this voice of writing off the technology because they can get a catchy title out of it but the whole cynicism of the industry is another topic for another time. I believe that those same tech sites who were wrong about Blu-ray will be wrong about 3D as well if recent studies have anything to say about it. In fact, IHS Screen Digest has released a new report which sees the 3D Blu-ray market growing by 500% in 2011 to reach a sales status of  $214 million. With an expected 65 3D Blu-ray titles to be released in 2011 alone, 3D Blu-ray sales are expected to hit $900 million by 2014.

 “Consumers are snapping up Blu-ray 3D titles because of a number of positive occurrences in the home 3D segment,” said Richard Baxter, video research analyst at IHS. “These developments include increasing consumer awareness of 3D technology, rising 3D hardware sales and an expanding catalog of 3D films for the home environment.

“Meanwhile, the arrival of more Blu-ray 3D titles in retail stores will enhance the technology’s profile among consumers and encourage 3D hardware adoption,” he also said “BD3D-enabled households are also likely to buy more Blu-ray 3D titles if they have a larger slate to choose from.” 

Seeing these reports really only confirms my beliefs of the format. Anybody who has ever been on board a new technology from the beginning like Blu-ray or DVD will note that the first year or so is always rough as both studios and manufactures get head around the format. During the initial year, it was not uncommon to hear of movies that didn’t load properly or had poor visual quality as studios tried to figure out the right codecs to use. Then there were players released in the market which constantly needed new firmware updates to play with different movie titles. Now, all that is behind us and with prices of players starting around $100 versus $600+, anybody can get in on the action and be assured that not only will their player be capable of playing any released Blu-ray titles, but that their title will have the best audio and video possible.

3D is on the same path as well but with one major difference: a lot of technology is already in use. Though for home release you will need a 3D Blu-ray player, some companies like Sony thought ahead and were able to update the PS3 via firmware and give it 3D playback capabilities. And seeing how the format is released on Blu-ray which everybody has had time to truly understand, there is no more quality issues when it comes to the titles themselves. This of course leaves the elephant in the room: the viewing method itself. Sony has already, in just one year, made great strides. In 2010, the company only offered 3D on three of the installments in its lineup of Bravia televisions which required an external transmitter bar. Now, the company is set to offer 3D on 16 of its 27 planned 2011 Bravia televisions with will start at just over $1,000. The company has also eliminated the need for the transmitter bar, opting to have them all built in. This was truly done in under a year. During CES, Sony and others have also shown off 3D TVs without the need of glasses which is indeed the future of the format. So although I don’t believe the format is perfect yet, I think calling it a fad is silly when we have seen such huge improvements in such a short time.

On a personal note, I remember that in the fall prior the PlayStation 3 release date, I knew that Blu-ray was a format that I would be supporting and slowly started to purchase Blu-ray titles, even though I did not own a device that was capable of playing the format back yet. Now with 3D, I once again find myself on the same path. I’ve already purchased TRON: Legacy on Blu-ray 3D and plan to purchase 3D Blu-rays for any title that I want that has a 3D option as well. It should be noted that 3D Blu-ray sets always have the 2D version included as well. Still, I won’t be able to enjoy the offering quite yet as I’m waiting for the 65″ XBR-65HX929, Sony’s flagship TV which will be released this fall. How about you? Where do you stand on 3D?

[Via Home Media Magazine]