Panasonic banking on 3D television

3D television may be the future but how long can it be watched before headaches are induced, writes DEREK SCALLY

You have to credit Panasonic with pluck. For years the electronics company has lurked in the shadow of its sleeker, shinier rival Sony. Then came South Korea’s LG and Samsung, leaving the two Japanese companies in their dust.

At this year’s IFA technology show in Berlin, Panasonic president Fumio Ohtsubo unveiled his plan to fight back.

After months of dramatic losses, the company isn’t sitting out the recession in the hope of better days, rather is poised to launch technology it hopes will secure its future.

Following cathode ray tubes, flat screens and then high definition, Panasonic hopes it will be the one to take television into the third dimension.

Mr Ohtsubo is confident that demand for its new 3D television technology will begin to kick in with the anticipated world economic recovery in 2011.

“We are confident that Panasonic will be the leading company in HD3D, particularly as we have had close relations with Hollywood for a long time,” said Mr Ohtsubo.

The fruits of the company’s 3D labours in Hollywood will go on display in public in December with James Cameron’s “Avatar”, the first feature film to be shot entirely in 3D.

A limited number of newspapers, including The Irish Times, were shown a 3D trailer of the film in Berlin – sci-fi meets Lord of the Rings – as well as footage from last year’s Olympic Games in China.

Without question, the massive plasma screen television delivers a startling picture: Avatar actors and Olympic athletes moved in a flawless three-dimensional reality of their own thanks to the high-frequency 120hz plasma display.

But the tiresome – and for the eyes, tiring – 3D glasses remain. The battery-driven active shutter headset does its bit to deliver two discrete HD images to each eye, creating the illusion of depth.

Panasonic is hopeful that its 3D technology will lend itself to “event” television, as well as animation and sports.

So just how long can someone be expected to watch 3D images before they induce a headache?

Mr Ohtsubo says Panasonic is conducting ongoing medical tests to establish the side-effects – a little surprising to hear considering the imminent product roll-out.

There is another big concern the company is trying to play down. Though its 3D technology is built around the Blu-Ray HD standard, rival Sony is working on its own 3D technology. Will this lead to yet another format war?

“Every studio is supporting our new 3D format,” says Mr Ohtsubo.

No direct answer from the Panasonic president. It’s times like this that he must regret his company’s 1995 sale of Universal Studios. It could have been a useful battering ram to establish its 3D format as standard.

There is also some confusion about compatibility: Panasonic says its 3D technology is already built into the existing Blu-Ray specification, meaning the 3D technology can be bought as an add-on to an existing HD home set-up.

But some tech analysts at the IFA were less optimistic, predicting the 3D technology will demand that consumers go out and buy yet another DVD player and television.

Still, regardless of a new format war and compatibility problems, there is no doubt that Hollywood needs a new revenue source and 3D is it.

From now until next September, the big studios are releasing no less than 24 3D films, from Tim Burton’s new “Alice in Wonderland” to re-releases like “Beauty and the Beast” and “Toy Story”. When these films reach the home in 2011, Panasonic will be waiting.

As will rival Sony: it was showing off its 3D wares at the IFA with LCD screens and polarised 3D glasses, both technically inferior to Panasonic’s product, but less complicated and cheaper to buy.

Panasonic has big plans beyond the leap into the third dimension, it hopes its acquisition of Sanyo and its profitable battery business will allow the company to become a serious player in a future market, at-home energy production and storage.

From next year, as part of a green initiative, it’s declaring war on the energy guzzling standby-mode, a bugbear of environmentalists everywhere. Its newest DVD players attached to Panasonic TVs will, in future, shut down entirely when put into standby mode.

In the coming years, Panasonic faces two difficult battles in one: fighting nimble Korean competitors who are not burdened by Japan’s unfavourable yen exchange rate; on the other front, the company is trying desperately to capture the kind of cool that Apple has made its own.

Mr Ohtsubo is remarkably frank about the weaknesses that have left Panasonic in fourth place in the industry. But with Panasonic retail orders beginning to rise again, he is cautiously optimistic that his company is well-placed to close the gap with rivals. If, that is so, its 3D gamble pays off.