The amazing innovations in television screens have increased the competition between companies to add more features in order to attract customers. But the problem is that flat-panel television screens can’t get much flatter and consumers don’t want the screens to get much wider. The Japanese television makers have found a solution to this problem and are banking on a whole new dimension to buttress their lineups.

The future belongs to the high-definition three-dimensional TV, as hoped by Panasonic and Sony . By introducing these new television sets, they also wish to put a stop to the current slide in prices and re-energize a market slowed by the global recession.

Problems Yet to Overcome

However, the biggest problem that is faced by the companies is that in order to view the three-dimensional TV, viewers will need to wear those goofy, ill-fitting glasses, just as they have to when watching 3-D movies in a theater. If they don’t wear the glasses, the screen would look nauseatingly blurry.

High Price Expected

Although the experience might be worth it, but the expected high price of 3-D systems, together with the special television screens, glasses and Blu-ray DVD players could also discourage many except the home theater buffs.

Although the price has not been announced by either Sony or Panasonic, but according to Panasonic, market research has shown that its 50-inch model might sell for $2,000. And for $50 a pair, a family of four would be paying as much for the glasses as a small high-definition television costs.

The results of a recent poll from the research firm found that 64 percent of respondents showed at least some interest in watching 3-D television at home, but 25 percent of those interested claimed that they would not pay more than for a regular television.

How Does It Work?

The 3-D works by rapidly alternating between left and right frames of the video. Viewers wear glasses that synchronize with the television over an infrared signal. The right frame is seen only with the right eye and the left frame with the left eye, creating the illusion of depth.

Sony is hoping to deploy the technology in some Bravia televisions and Vaio notebook PCs in 2010. PlayStation 3 video game consoles will also be able to fit in with 3-D technology as told by Yutaka Nakamura, a Sony spokesman.