Almost Before It Began, 3D TV's Era Seems To Be Fading
By Paul Kurtz
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The era of three-dimensional television is apparently on the way out.
ESPN says it has decided to cut its 3D TV channel by the end of the year.
There just wasn't enough viewer interest for ESPN to continue down the 3D path, so now it is going to focus instead on "4K" or "ultra HD."
Bob Cole, co-founder of Bob and Ron's World Wide Stereo, says there were many problems with the technology -- beginning with how the manufacturers plopped their products into big box stores with virtually no advance notice.
"Big box stores were sitting on all these TVs, so the prices plummeted (and) they had to move them. And the lower some thing costs, the less value it has," Cole said today.
Then there are the glasses.
"Nobody likes the glasses," Cole says. "And everybody hears rumors about 3D TVs that are coming out where you don't need the glasses. That's gonna look as fake as anything I've seen."
Industry experts say 4K and OLED (organic light-emitting diode) TVs will be the next big thing, but it will probably take a few years to perfect those technologies.
