For now, the crisis level of the screen seems to be very low. Not a lot of people have seen the screens in operation so there’s no need at all to get one. That will change in the coming years though. The first stage of deployment is aimed at professional users. In the market of digital signage, this new technology will be the one and only thing that can distinguish itself from the flat panel displays every store and advertiser is using these days. In order to stay that cool brand, you will need a 3D screen. For a projected € 10.000,- in retail price, be sure that a lot of those screens will pop-up, especially when the price will drop in the near future. Expect the future of display to arrive soon, as John Underkoffler, from our board of inspiration, has predicted before.

From a consumers perspective it will take a lot longer though. I have absolutely no clue why Philips is going to release the screens to the public as well next year. First of all, the price scores high on the level of Total Perceived Pain of Adoption (TPPA). Second, it requires a powerful computer that generates the images and that has the appropriate software (maybe you don’t just have to buy one, but two devices). Thirdly, the best results are achieved with high quality content. Read: HDTV, preferably two streams of it for the ultimate stereo video experience. While we might reach the HD standard by using new HD DVD players, it still requires a lot more computational power to generate two of those streams. And lets forget about receiving such a signal from your broadcaster (especially in West European countries such as the Netherlands).

Sure Philips has created a way to convert the traditional 2D images to 3D, ‘real time’ in the screen, but the quality drops when it is applied to the standard broadcasting signal. And with screens like these the real benefit for consumers lies in that crystal clear image that enhances the viewing experience.

The only thing that they have going for them on the TPPA-scale, is that there is no learning curve at all for the technology. In the future, you will just plug it in, sit in front of it and you’ll see the 3D visuals (the angle under which you see the effect keeps increasing). Interestingly, the results can be achieved quite easily because your brain is used to seeing stuff in 3D, and on the first cues it gets, it will automatically see the 3D experience for the remainder of the shot (even if it isn’t converted perfectly).

Conslusion? It will still take years for this technology to reach a tipping point. And only after we’ve become accustomed to having 3D all around us, will it become ‘cool’ to have such a screen in your house. And even then, it will also require the right content. I doubt whether we would want to see our news anchors, or the horrific news events in 3D. As with a lot of these technologies I believe a big push can come from the porn industry. And while Philips might not want to be associated with that, the user will probably not brag to much about that either. However, that hasn’t stopped technologies to be successful before…