Philips to Ship 3D-Capable LCD TVs in Europe in Summer With Optional Eyewear Bundle

Add Philips in Europe to the roster of TV vendors shipping 3D products this year. But it will take a laid-back approach to its launch, offering 3D-capable TVs with the active-shutter eyewear as an optional bundle until more 3D programming is available, it told dealers at its Barcelona briefing Tuesday. Executives at the Atlanta-based office of Funai, which handles the marketing and distribution of Philips-brand TVs in North America, didn’t respond right away to requests for comment on the company’s U.S. 3D TV plans.

Philips will field 3D-capable LCD TVs with LED illumination and active-shutter LCD eyewear. The company’s 9000 Series sets will have LED backlighting, and will include its flagship “Cinema 21:9” set that has the same 2.39:1 aspect-ratio as cinema widescreen presentations. The 8000 Series will have LED edge-lighting, Philips said. The 9000 Series will come in a 56-inch size for the Cinema 21:9 model, and 32-, 40- and 46-inch sizes for conventional 16:9-ratio TV. Sizes in the 8000 series will be 37-, 40-, 46- and 62 inches, and all are in 16:9 aspect ratio, Philips said.

A “3-D Upgrade Pack” will comprise two active 3D glasses and a wireless transmitter. Additional spectacles will be sold separately “so that you can buy as many glasses as you need for the whole family to enjoy the 3D experience together,” Philips said. It’s not bundling the glasses with the TVs because it doesn’t want to burden consumers with extra cost at a time when little 3D programming is available. And, although Philips didn’t reveal prices for the 3D-ready sets, it said they'll be priced so that consumers who want to buy new TVs will be future-proof when more 3D programming arrives.

"Similar to the growth of HD content and HD-Ready TVs, Philips expects the interest in an in-home 3D experience to grow hand-in-hand with the availability of content. … Initial signs of consumer demand are starting to show based on the popularity of 3D theatrical box-office releases and initial broadcast offerings. This demand will increase slowly over the coming years.” Meanwhile, “Philips believes that consumers should not have to pay a premium for a technology that will become an industry standard within the coming years. As such, Philips Full HD 3D-Ready TVs cater to those consumers interested in enjoying the best 3D cinematic event in the home at an early stage of its technological development without them having to pay a premium for a 3D TV set."

While Philips’ summer shipments would make it a relative latecomer to 3D, Samsung appears poised to be first out of the gate in the U.S. and Europe (CED Feb 23 p5). It’s slated to begin selling 3D products early next month, notably through Sears in the U.S. Panasonic and Sony said they'll have TVs in stores around May. Besides vowing to be first on the street in 3D worldwide, Samsung revealed new details about its 3D products to European retailers in Vienna on Monday.

In addition to supporting the Blu-ray 3D standard, Samsung’s LCD and plasma 3D TVs include "unique” and “proprietary” technology to automatically convert 2D content to 3D in real-time, the company said. “For those who want to add the third dimension to their regular TV viewing, Samsung included in its 3D processor an auto-conversion technology that renders 2D content into 3D in real time. Consumers can add a level of depth and clarity to a live football game, with the simple push of a button."

Samsung’s 3D processor also seems capable of handling 3D formats beyond Blu-ray’s -- including some “half-HD resolution” like the system to be used by the U.K. programmer BSkyB for its “Sky HD-3D” that’s delivered to “passive-polarization” TVs from Hyundai, JVC and LG (CED Feb 12 p2). “Samsung’s 3D products all include Samsung’s proprietary built-in 3D processor and emitter that is optimized for, and enables compatibility with, multiple 3D standards including Half- and Full-HD resolution formats as well as the Blu-ray Disc Association’s approved ‘Blu-ray 3D’ standard,” Samsung said.

That apparently makes Samsung’s 3D sets compatible with Sky’s plan to deliver 3D sports and other programming to thousands of U.K. pubs this year. The Samsung “active technology” 3D-ready TVs would be an addition to the legacy- and less-costly passive-polarized 3D TVs that Sky would procure from other vendors. A “universal"-type 3D display from Samsung would give consumers and others nearly-universal display for a variety of so-far incompatible 3D formats.