Despite a concerted push by a number of companies at this year's International CES to promote the technology, the Japanese TV maker believes that consumers are not interested.
Instead, TV buyers are interested in what they've always been interested in: the best resolution. "We went from VHS to DVD and then from DVD to 720p to 1080p to Blu-ray and now 4K is the next big thing," a company spokesperson told Trusted Reviews.
"I think that 3D still does great in the theatres, just not so in a home theatre. If people do buy the 3D TVs, we found that they just weren't using it that much," he said.
Toshiba claims that this is partly due to a lack of content and partly because wearing the glasses is uncomfortable.
As such, Toshiba says it has not seen a huge demand for 3D and "we do not see that trend extending its lifeline much further."
Toshiba's disappointing words come only weeks after the 2014 International CES where ‘glasses-free' 3D technology was really being pushed.
Chief among the companies doing the pushing was Stream TV, a company that has pioneered something called Ultra D, a proprietary technology — i.e., one integrated into other manufacturers' devices — that not only offers glasses-free ultra-high definition 3D on TVs, but can be integrated into PC monitors and tablets too.
To get around the issue of native content, the company also has a supporting technology that can convert 2D to 3D with no lags or resolution drops.
However, despite these innovations, so far the appetite among consumers for 3D outside of the cinema seems limited.
In July 2013, the BBC, one of the world's biggest and most influential television broadcasters, announced it was abandoning plans to continue creating and broadcasting content in 3D. The organisation had been experimenting with the format since 2011 but had been hugely disappointed with consumer uptake.
It only managed to attract 750,000 viewers for the 3D version of the 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, despite the fact that it was the most watched televisual event in UK history.
In 2013, US broadcaster ESPN also shuttered its 3D sports channel stating lack of consumer interest. — ©AFP/Relaxnews 2014
