<< New on Disc: 'Solitary Man,' 'Seven' and more … | Blog Home | Studios Holding Back 3D Releases? Of Course They Are! >>

 

3D Bundling a Smart Move

9 Sep, 2010 By: Stephanie Prange

---

One of the most difficult hurdles to overcome with the launch of HDTV — due to the HD DVD versus Blu-ray Disc format war — was the confusion about high-definition disc content. Certain content wouldn’t play on certain players. By avoiding that problem with Blu-ray and 3DTV, the industry seems to have gotten it right this time. Content, instead of confusing the issue, can be a major boost to the adoption of a new dimension in TVs.

By bundling major 3D theatrical hits with 3DTVs, studios and consumer electronics manufacturers are offering buyers an instant “wow” factor. Consumers can go home with their electronics purchase and immediately get the full benefit of 3D without the worry that they’ve got a disc that may soon become obsolete.

Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment and Sony Electronics are partnering for consumer and retail education, promotion, and marketing support of in-home 3D devices, including bundling 3D Blu-ray versions of recent box office hit Alice in Wonderland and family favorite Bolt with the electronics. Meanwhile, Panasonic is reportedly partnering with 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment  to bundle its 3DTVs with the 3D Blu-ray release of box office sensation Avatar in December, and Samsung is collaborating with DreamWorks Animation to bundle How to Train Your Dragon and select “Shrek” films with 3DTVs this fall.

I’ve already seen enticing and reasonably priced displays of 3DTVs with the whole setup, including the 3D Blu-ray player. Add a movie such as Alice in Wonderland, Avatar or How to Train Your Dragon to the bundle, and it’s even easier to close the sale.

But the studios aren’t doing this merely to help out their friends in the electronics industry.

While electronics companies are obviously benefitting from studio content, the studios ultimately may be the bigger winners. As was often noted during the high-definition format war, sell the razor and make money for years to come on the razorblades. Content in 3D plays on any of the 3DTVs out there. This time around, the studios’ “razorblades” work with any of the “razors” out there.

With the hits the studios are bundling with 3DTVs, it looks like the format’s electronics may start moving off retail shelves this holiday season despite the bad economy. And that will mean studio sales of 3D Blu-rays for many seasons to come, and a new lease on life for a Blu-ray format increasingly facing competition from high-definition digital delivery. Blu-ray’s advantage has always been its high quality of sound and picture. The new 3D format will again show off the fact that Blu-ray is the best way to watch movies.

Bookmark it: