Is Hdtv Hurting The Motion Picture Industry

Reuters reports that in 2004 during Boston Red Sox baseball fever, the year they won the World Series for the first time since 1918, National Amusements, the controlling shareholder in Viacom Inc, began screening high-definition broadcasts of Red Sox games in its Showcase Cinemas in several New England cities on weekday nights.

Fast-forward two years later when HDTV is rapidly becoming the standard for our home entertainment. The movie theaters are again taking note and again wondering how to boost their sagging profits. Enter 3D. Not your mother's 3D but you do still have to wear the glasses, although they're much lighter now and purported not to cause the headaches 3D glasses did in the 50s and 60s.

They're scared. They're scared we're going to stay home and watch our high-definition TVs, which is exactly what we're doing. Especially during the week, although National Amusements may have hit on something by bringing in hot dog vendors to walk the aisles with their dogs, peanuts and beer. That they sold team gear in the lobby only added to the overall experience and no longer were we just watching a game, we were there.

Last November, Chicken Little was screened in 3D and brought in more money than its original version. Columbia Pictures' Monster House will be released July 21, 2006 in its regular version and in 3D in 200 theaters equipped with the 3D projection equipment, which costs roughly 2500.00.

Just as we were able to bring HDTV into our homes, Philips Electronics thinks 3D for the home is just around the corner. In an interview at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January, 2006, Philips' CEO Rudy Provost said he hopes to be able to debut a Philips HDTV by 2008 that would play 3D video content. "Although movie studios don't produce movies in 3D yet, consumers will be able to get a 3D experience from a 2D high-definition disc and these TVs," he said. "As the technology catches on, studios will likely produce movies made from the beginning with 3D in mind," he added.

Whatever happens, it's an exciting time for HDTV as more and more gadgets employ the high-definition technology, and more and more technology finds its way into our homes.

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