US households embracing 3D and smart TVs

Despite what could best be described as a lukewarm response when 3D-capable TV sets initially rolled out onto the market (the global market for all 3D displays equated to just 1 million units in 2008 according to data from NPD DisplaySearch, which also puts current worldwide 3DTV ownership at 10% of households), a research paper published by the Consumer Electronics Association claims that in the US at least, the technology has started to take hold and will be one of the dominant trends over the coming years.

The study, "Beyond 2D Viewing: Understanding the Demand for Advanced Television Features," reveals that 21 percent of US homes already own at least one 3D-enabled television and that 42 percent of 3D HDTV owners already watch more than five hours of 3D content a week.

Movies are the most popular 3D content with all TV owners (48% of all households), followed by live programming (42%) and video gaming (30%). What's more, 68% of 3DTV owners rate the visual experience of 3D programming as excellent or good.

Of the findings, Kevin Tillmann, senior research analyst at CEA, said: "Consumer interest in 3DTVs and 3D content continues to grow as ownership rates increase. Continuing to expand and innovate with 3D content will be extremely important for future usage and will continue to drive sales."

The research also shows that use of and demand for connected and smart TVs is also growing. One in five US adults owns a smart TV, capable of supporting apps and internet browsing, and 90 percent of owners claim to use their TV set's apps in some capacity and 61 percent of the same sample claim to stream video content from the internet on their TVs, while 56 percent browse the web and 54 percent view photos, all via built-in apps.

After high-quality audio and video, built in wi-fi and internet browsing is the most important feature for US consumers when considering a new television, and one in three of those surveyed said that they would be buying a new HDTV within the next 12 months.

This finding is particularly interesting as until now, most reports have shown that internet-connected and smart TVs were failing to build a market share in the US as households seemed to prefer on-demand services from their cable providers. In particular, an NPD report from October 2012 showed that smart TVs were growing rapidly in popularity, after a shaky start, and had reached a 55 percent penetration rate in Japan and 40 percent in western Europe, yet the US was still lagging behind at 20 percent, the lowest of any region in the survey.

"North American households consume the highest levels of internet video, averaging over 30 GB per household every month according to Cisco, yet they don't seem attracted to connected TVs," explained Paul Gray, Director, European TV Research for NPD of the company's findings, "We find that North America leads by far in paid on-demand services, which tend to be tied to set-top boxes."

But as well as beginning to embrace smart TV apps and using their TVs as web browsers, US households are also turning to other devices to enhance their TV viewing experience. Among HDTV owners who also have a tablet, for example, 67 percent claimed to use their tablet for accessing social media while simultaneously watching television. Fifty-eight percent of owners who have a smartphone claimed to use their handset to browse social media while in front of the TV.

"We are living in an app-dominated world, whether it's on your smartphone, tablet or television," said Tillmann, "Consumers want access to their apps at all times and they will use whatever device, TVs included, that offer the best and most convenient user experience."