I was never a fan of the 3-D movies I saw in theaters growing up in the 80s, but based on the 3-D HD demonstrations I’ve seen recently, I’m casting my vote as a believer in its potential. While HD remains far from being the standard for broadcast entertainment, it is interesting to see how much progress has been made on the technology for delivering this next generation of HD content. 3-D HD is the natural next step in high-quality video, and some believe its evolution will move from Blu-ray discs for games and movies to  sports broadcasting.
      In April, I saw 3-D HD presentations by International Datacasting at NAB, with videos of separate 3-D HD efforts of the production of a football game and a music video interspersed with discussions of the technology, the production and the future potential. In June, at CommunicAsia, I caught 3-D HD presentations by Panasonic and Singtel. The technology continued to impress, especially Singtel’s 3-D video game demonstration, which delivers 3-D images without the use of special glasses. After witnessing 3-D HD firsthand, it’s hard for me not to agree with this excitement.
      It seems that with each industry event, 3-D HD becomes more and more immediate. At IBC, some companies presented consumer 3-D HD in the present tense, completely disregarding the belief that it will take some time for the technology to be widespread. Even in a time of economic recession, the market for new entertainment technology is not slowing down – and this one of the major takeaways of IBC.
     No matter what the state of the economy is, state-of-the-art will always be in demand with high expectations … and there is always an eager customer.