3D Display Revenues Forecast to Reach $22B by 2018; 3D-Ready TV Shipments to Reach 64M Units
In its recently released 3D Display Technology and Market Forecast Report, DisplaySearch forecasts that the total stereoscopic 3D display market will grow from 0.7 million units and $902 million in revenues in 2008 to 196 million units and $22 billion in revenues in 2018, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 38% for revenues and 75% for units.
3D displays are taking off with consumers due to increasing availability of 3D content. In addition, 3D standardization has also been addressed or is being evaluated in several 3D organizations.
In its recently released 3D Display Technology and Market Forecast Report, DisplaySearch forecasts that the total stereoscopic 3D display market will grow from 0.7 million units and $902 million in revenues in 2008 to 196 million units and $22 billion in revenues in 2018, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 38% for revenues and 75% for units.
Figure 1: 3D Display Forecast, Source: 3D Display Technology and Market Forecast ReportThe market for 3D displays—which is encouraged by the recent success of 3D cinema—is forecast to take off in 2010, providing a welcome boost to the electronics industry. “3D displays are taking off with consumers due to increasing availability of 3D content. In addition, 3D standardization has also been addressed or is being evaluated in several 3D organizations,” noted Jennifer Colegrove, Director of Display Technologies at DisplaySearch. “A number of manufacturers of consumer electronics devices, including TVs, monitors, notebooks, Blu-ray disc players, and digital cameras/camcorders/photo frames have aggressively promoted 3D in the home. In addition to consumer use of 3D displays, the technology has also been used for many professional applications and advertisement/public displays.”
DisplaySearch forecasts 3D-ready TVs will grow from 0.2 million units in 2009 to 64 million units in 2018. 3D-ready TV will be the largest application in terms of revenue in 2018 with $17 billion (Figure 1).
Additional findings from the DisplaySearch 3D Display Technology and Market Forecast Report:
3D-ready monitors will grow from 40K units (0.02% penetration) in 2009 to 10 million (3.6% penetration) in 2018.
3D notebook PCs are forecast to grow from 66K units (0.04% penetration) in 2009 to 17.7 million (3.2% penetration) in 2018.
Mobile phones will be the largest 3D display application on a unit shipment basis in 2018, with 71 million units with 3D capability.
The largest screen size category for 3D display shipments will be 1-4.x”, due to demand from mobile phone and digital camera/camcorder applications. The second largest size range will be 40-49”, due to TV, public display and 40+ monitor applications.
LCD will be the primary display technology used for 3D displays, as a result of its wide range of display applications ranging from small mobile phones to large public displays and TVs.
Eyewear will be necessary for most 3D applications for many years to come, due to the limitations of auto-stereoscopic (no glasses) technologies.
DisplaySearch forecasts there will be more than 7,000 new 3D cinema screens installed in 2010 and an additional 9,000 in 2011.
The DisplaySearch 3D Display Technology and Market Forecast Report is a comprehensive analysis of the stereoscopic 3D display technologies and their market forecasts through 2018. The report profiles about 150 3D display-related companies, with a breakdown by technology for 3D display and supply chain. 3D image creation and processing, human factors, content delivery and standardization are also discussed in the report. The Excel database provides a pivot table with market forecasts for units, revenues and ASPs, by nine size breakdowns, and ten applications: TV, mobile phone, digital camera/camcorder, digital photo frame, head-mounted display, notebook PC, monitor (<39.x”), 40+” monitor, public display, cinema and other applications.
The report analyzes over a dozen 3D display technologies, focusing on six categories in the market forecast: passive glasses with one panel, passive glasses with two panels, active glasses, no glasses (auto-stereoscopic), head-mounted display and holographic/volume. The report also covers touch screens for 3D displays. For more information on this report, please contact Charles Camaroto at 1.888.436.7673 or 1.516.625.2452, or contact@displaysearch.com or contact your regional DisplaySearch office in China, Japan, Korea or Taiwan.
The DisplaySearch 12th Annual USFPD Conference, called “Laying the Foundations for the Next Wave of Growth: Energy Efficient & Low Cost Alternatives Lead the Way” will be held March 2-3, 2010 at the Hilton San Diego Resort in San Diego, California. The event will focus on all major and emerging flat panel display applications, as well as key components and materials related to the supply chain. To view the agenda and register, visit www.displaysearch.com/usfpd. Register by January 25, 2010 to receive the early bird discount and save $400! Media interested in attending the USFPD Conference should contact Stacey Voorhees-Harmon at stacey(at)savvypublicrelations(dot)net or call +1.925.336.9592.
About DisplaySearch
Since 1996, DisplaySearch has been recognized as a leading global market research and consulting firm specializing in the $770 billion display supply chain, as well as the emerging photovoltaic/solar cell industries. DisplaySearch provides trend information, forecasts and analyses developed by a global team of experienced analysts with extensive industry knowledge and resources. In collaboration with the NPD Group, its parent company, DisplaySearch uniquely offers a true, end-to-end view of the display supply chain from materials and components to shipments of electronic devices with displays to sales of major consumer and commercial channels. For more information on DisplaySearch analysts, reports and industry events, visit us at www.displaysearch.com. Read our blog at www.displaysearchblog.com and follow us on Twitter at @DisplaySearch.
3D TV Technology Overview Explained
Single-view displays as opposed to 3D displays, project only one stereo pair at a time. Multi-view displays either use head-tracking to change the view depending of the viewing angle, or simultaneously project multiple independent views of a scene for multiple viewers (automultiscopic); such multiple views can be created on-the-fly using the 2D plus depth format.
Various other display techniques have been described, such as holography, volumetric display and the Pulfrich effect, that was used by Doctor Who for Dimensions in Time in 1993, by 3rd Rock From The Sun in 1997, and by the Discovery Channel’s Shark Week in 2000, among others. Real-Time 3D TV (Youtube video) is essentially a form of autostereoscopic display.
Stereoscopy is most widely accepted method for capturing and delivering 3D video. It involves capturing stereo pairs in a two-view setup, with cameras mounted side by side, and separated by the same distance as between a person’s pupils. Convincing scene depth effects can only be achieved with exactly the same viewing screen size/distance ratio as intended at the moment of capture/rendering, or the projected image will have impossible separation and convergence angles, especially for close-up objects.
Multi-view capture uses arrays of many cameras to capture a 3D scene through multiple independent video streams. Plenoptic cameras, which capture the light field of a scene, can also be used to capture multiple views with a single main lens[4]. Depending on the camera setup, the resulting views can either be displayed on multi-view displays, or passed for further image processing.
After capture, stereo or multi-view image data can be processed to extract 2D plus depth information for each view, effectively creating a device-independent representation of the original 3D scene. This data can be used to aid inter-view image compression or to generate stereoscopic pairs for multiple different view angles and screen sizes.
2D plus depth processing can be used to recreate 3D scenes even from a single view and convert legacy film and video material to a 3D look, though a convincing effect is harder to achieve and the resulting image will likely look like a cardboard miniature.


