Television technology is forever changing. The last ten years have shown us more technological changes than when the TV went from black & white to color. Today, LCD suppliers and PayTV providers are seeking even more new ways to differentiate themselves and in the process they are taking a share of your hard-earned cash. Just when we thought that HD was the ultimate in TV technology and when hoteliers are finally making the shift to HD (in some cases straight from analogue), 3DTV is hitting the headlines. We’re sure you have all been down to your local electronics store and put on the cool (or not so cool) 3D shades to experience the adventure. Ultimately though, watching movies in 3D has been disappointing except when these movies have been created specifically for the 3D experience. Migrating standard two-dimension programs to 3D just isn’t bringing the consumer the expected experience. Content needs to have been planned and created with 3D in mind, which is much easier said than done. The objective is for the content to reach out to the viewers and create a virtual interaction. Of course the adult industry is again first in line in taking advantage of the latest technology, and will probably be also the first in line to make a profit from it with millions being invested by major studios to generate 3D movies. The shift to mainstream content may take a little longer because studios and broadcasters are grappling with the business case and user experience. It’s not just the battery guzzling 3D shades that need to be addressed. One can also add the 30% more bandwidth that satellite bandwidth providers claim is used by 3D.  Also in consideration is the fact that as long as 3D users are the minority, broadcasters will have to broadcast both a 3D version as well as a 2D version. Ultimately end to end standards are essential to develop 3D going forward because, as recently pointed out in a Spacenews article, bad handling of the broadcast leads to poor picture quality in an HD world and in a 3D world it leads to a splitting headache.