Summary: 3D viewing is spreading from cinema to the small screen. When will brands see the benefits of 3D advertising? iTunes: cs.co/tnp - Subscribe, listen to past episodes, rate the show or write a review. TRANSCRIPT for "3D Advertising: A New Dimension" written by Jason Deign: You could call it a struggle between different dimensions. Today’s video devices, from Apple iPads to flat-screen TVs, are slimmer than ever before. The upcoming Sony Xperia Tablet Z, for example, is about one quarter of an inch thick. Yet gaze into the screens of these thin devices and "flat" is the last thing you'll think. Thanks to advances in visual technology, video now has a depth that viewers couldn't have dreamed of in the past. The ultimate, of course, is 3D -- or three dimensional -- a format that has taken off in cinemas over the last decade thanks to the popularity of films such as the 2009 blockbuster "Avatar," by director James Cameron, or Ang Lee’s "Life of Pi." In the last two years, five of the top 10 grossing movies in the United States were shown in 3D. It might be just a matter of time before big brands start giving the format a similar level of attention. Andrew Murchie is a 3D filmmaker based in Edinburgh, Scotland. He says the reason brands aren't already using 3D is because the format hasn't really caught on with home viewers. Quote: "It’s obviously successful in cinema, there is no debate about that. If you make 3D films, people will come and see them. TV is the battleground at the moment. There is not really sufficient content. And I think the biggest issues are the glasses." End quote. Murchie says, unlike the cinema, where viewers are usually completely focused on the screen, home viewers tend to multitask while in front of the TV, so wearing 3D glasses can be a hindrance. That could be set to change, though. Companies such as Dimenco are working to bring 3D to the small screen… without glasses. Cameron himself was wowed by the results after seeing a demo at last year’s International Broadcasting Convention in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. And even if glasses-free 3D takes a while to catch on, there are signs that traditional 3D -- with glasses -- may be slowly growing in popularity in the home. When Ridley Scott’s sci-fi smash "Prometheus" went on sale in stores in the United States, for example, Nielsen VideoScan reported a quarter of the Blu-ray copies bought were in 3D. Meanwhile the Consumer Electronics Association claims 42 percent of people who own 3D-capable high-definition TV sets are now watching at least five hours of 3D programming a week. 3D is even attracting attention on YouTube. The online video site is able to encode and play back 3D films, and Murchie says the format is catching on. He recently produced a short horror movie for YouTube called "The Collection" -- in 3D and 2D. He says, quote: "45 times more people chose to watch it in 3D. The difference was phenomenal." End quote. With this growing interest, it seems logical that sooner or later advertisers might want in on it. Some are already exploring the medium for cinema ads, but so far only a few brands, such as Red Bull, seem to have woken up to the potential of 3D on smaller screens. According to Murchie, as the amount of 3D content grows, other brands will probably follow. Quote: "If there was a big enough subscriber base and enough content, then advertisers would start putting more money behind it. It is surprising more advertisers are not jumping on board because the message recall is considerably better from the 3D viewing experience." End quote. In addition, the technical barriers to creating 3D productions have fallen to the point where the cost is practically the same as for 2D. And when you shoot in 3D, you get a perfectly good 2D copy anyway. Because of the immersive nature of 3D, it can provide a more engaging advertising experience. And for the time being at least, the format gives advertisers a way to stand out
