Audio News for May 27, 2011

Promising Survey on Home 3D Adoption – The Digital Entertainment Group (DEG) has revealed findings of a groundbreaking study of the experiences of nearly 3,100 3D-compatible TV owners, who reported an overwhelmingly positive entertainment experience, minimal price premiums, and enthusiasm about the future of 3D content. Market research firm SmithGeiger did the study, which was the first to focus on the experiences of actual 3DTV owners. 3DTV picture quality was rated at 88% vs. 91% for 2D quality. 85% said they would prefer to watch half of all their programs in 3D and that the majority of programming in 3D was better than in 2D. The vast majority said they paid a relatively small additional fee for 3D capability, which made their TVs worth the extra dollars paid. On average, those surveyed paid just over $2000, with more than half paying less than $2000. Only a handful of owners surveyed experienced any discomfort wearing the active-shutter 3D glasses, and there was an average of 2.38 pairs of glasses per 3D home. 3D feature films on Blu-ray were the favorite choice for 78% of users, with football games at 67%. 7 out of 10 of those surveyed use a Blu-ray 3D player, and 44% purchased their player together with the 3D display. 28% of all 3DTV owners had a PlayStation3 system, and 78% of those already upgraded their PS3 to watch 3D movies. 68% have already purchased a 3D video game.  In addition to Blu-ray players and PS3s, 40% of owners receive 3D content thru a cable or satellite channel. The leading makers of 3DTVs are LG, Samsung, Panasonic, Mitsubishi and Sony. 89% of 3DTV owners have sets measuring 50 inches or larger.  The consumers surveyed in the DEG study were predominantly male and married, with an average age of 51. 78% said their sets area also viewed by their spouse or significant other, and 86% have children at home who also watch 3D on a regular basis.

Sonos and MOG Team Up for Home High-Quality Streaming – Sonos wireless music systems for the home now provides the MOG music service thruout the home. Sonos offers a 20% discount for a bundle of one of their music systems plus a one-year subscription to MOG. MOG’s founder was formerly CEO of Gracenote and among its investors are Sony and Universal. It is an ad-free subscription service with access to 11 millions tunes for streaming to any computer, iPhone, iPod Touch, Android phone or TV (thru the Roku channel). The web streams are 320 kbps MP3 files (high quality MP3 but still not the equal of 44.1/16bit CDs). Mobile users have a choice of that resolution or 64 kbps AAC files. The basic subscription plan is only $5 a month, with a $10 plan also allowing access to the MOG platforms on supported mobile devices. Rhapsody’s content is also available thru MOG. Users can customize their “stations” on the fly or by choosing “artist-only” or – with a sliding indicator – a varying mix between a specific artist and similar but different artists. The site also offers simple navigation of albums and artists, browsing for new releases, Editors’ Picks and various playlists, and features an index to music blogs and over 1500 music sites. About 40 million people use MOG monthly.

THX Project to Bring Cinema’s Perfection to the Home – Media Director is the name of the new technology, and it is designed to create the optimum cinema experience THX offers in theatrical showings to one’s home TV.  Media Director technology will be licensed to all the big TV makers and will initially appear on their top-tier models. It will concentrate on all the settings and presets within the display. It addresses crosstalk between the left and right eyes with 3D, making the picture look correct and also completely comfortable. THX is currently involved in the upcoming September Blu-ray release of the complete Star Wars, and also in conversion of the last three Star Wars prequels to 3D. George Lucas’ perfectionism will ensure plenty of time and attention to detail as part of the 2D to 3D conversions. After all, even conversion-knocker James Cameron is now converting his Titanic to 3D.