3D television has history going back nearly 100 years, but after a century of living on the margins of entertainment, 3D is now firmly part of our daily lives. With new television models coming out all the time, some promising glasses-free 3D, it’s only a matter of time before 3D becomes the norm for television viewing.

As with many of the recent developments in entertainment, satellite tv broadcasters like Sky are driving the uptake of 3D. In fact, if you look down the list of 3D channels around the world, it’s pretty much only satellite broadcasters that appear to be taking 3D seriously.

One of the problems with 3D is that it’s expensive to produce. To make a programme in 3D costs a lot more money than in 2D, and therefore many producers are focussing on high definition production rather than taking the risk and experimenting with the extra dimension available to them.

Part of this is because there aren’t a great number of 3D screens around the place. People haven’t really bought them en masse just yet because the technology is still in development. Most 3D screens require glasses – which can be off-putting for people in their own home – and 3D televisions remain comparatively quite expensive.

Yet, to ignore 3D altogether is a dangerous mistake. Manufacturers seem confident that 3D is the entertainment medium of the future and are throwing millions of man hours into developing the technology. Toshiba is one of the companies leading the development of 3D television and is confident that it can produce a glasses-free display that will revolutionise 3D within three years.

Another manufacturing giant is driving things along even more quickly. Sony, the famed maker of the Playstation, has unveiled a range of 3D televisions specifically for gamers. Retro-fitting a game into 3D is much easier than doing the same with a film or tv programme, so there are lots and lots of 3D games around, which means hardware is required to play them. As a result, a small, but nonetheless significant percentage of the population will invest in 3D technology over the coming years, and with so few channels broadcasting in 3D, those companies who have taken the plunge into the extra dimension are bound to reap the rewards of a captive audience.

In an attempt to make sure that customers aren’t turned off from 3D due to a lack of content, manufacturers have even taken steps to offer content themselves. Samsung, for example, have created a system whereby customers can stream 3D films directly from the Samsung website, and thus have access to a much larger range of content than would otherwise be the case.

In fact, as it was films that really kicked off the renaissance in 3D, it may well be films that continue to drive it forward. Blockbusters like Avatar grabbed the attention of a global audience, many of whom saw the film in 3D, as these films make their way from the silver screen to the television screen they will remain the major source of 3D content on television.

That does mean, however, that the continued growth of 3D relies on the quality of the films. As far as the cinema goes, it was a bit of a novelty to see a 3D film, as far as your home goes, you’re not going to choose to watch a rubbish 3D film over a good 2D film.

The key to the continued growth of 3D no longer rests with the manufacturers, who are more than doing their bit to develop the technology. Broadcasters have also taken up the gauntlet by providing the platform. The key rests with producers, if there isn’t enough quality programming to watch, people won’t buy 3D televisions, but producers don’t want to spend loads on producing 3D programmes without a guaranteed big audience, it’s something of a catch 22 situation, and one that needs to be resolved if 3D is to truly realise it’s potential.