As we expected, 4K and OLED displays were one of the key highlights from CES 2013. 3D technology and products were clearly well represented, but did not command the headlines they have at past CES events. But that’s just fine. It proves that 3D is moving beyond the introductory hype phase into a sustainable, product, market and technology development phase.

3D will become part of many products going forward. It is almost as if manufacturers are taking a “yea, of course it is 3D capable” attitude. That doesn’t mean that everyone will use this capability, but having it there opens up great new opportunities for those interested in 3D.

Perhaps the most important aspect of this maturity of 3D is the growth of the installed base of 3D products.

According to a press release last October from DisplaySearch, the 3D display market is set to grow from 50.8 million units and $13.2 billion in revenue in 2011 to 226 million units and $67 billion in revenue in 2019 worldwide. 3D TVs contribute heavily to this projection and create the largest revenue stream with anticipated growth from 25 million units in 2011 to approximately 180 million units in 2019. “Despite some industry sentiment that the 3D bubble has burst, we expect 3D to continue to grow across several categories including TVs, portable devices, and public displays,” noted Jennifer Colegrove, PhD, vice president of emerging display technologies, NPD DisplaySearch.

The growth of 3D TVs, tablets, smartphone, PC, cameras, camcorders and more creates an installed base that now makes economic sense to target. These numbers will get app developers, advertisers, content creators, game developers, distribution partners, technologists and many others far more interested in 3D. It is getting to the scale where business models can work. This is one of the reasons why I remain optimistic about the 3D market.

There was tons of 3D news from CES. We learned about a lot of it, but clearly not all of it. We will have a lot more coverage on these pages and in our news videos in the coming days. Below are some of the news items we will be covering or have covered.

• Glasses-free 3D TVs and displays from StreamTV, Dimenco, Dolby, Vizio, HiSense, DTI and others
• Glasses-based 3D TVs from Sony, Samsung, LG and others (almost all of the 4K TVs are 3D capable, by the way)
• 3D conversion tools from 3D Impact Media, StreamTV, RealityBox and Zero Creative
• 3D cameras and camcorders from Panasonic and Samsung
• 3D content creation tools from Leonar3Do, Etron and PrimeSense
• 3D distribution news from Netflix, Lionsgate, Disney, Eutelsat, DDD, Sensio and more
• 3D projection products from BenQ, Epson, HB Opto, Wolf Cinema, SIM2 and others
• 3D glasses, headgear and innovations from Vuzix, XpanD, Sony
• 3D Tablets from Gadmei and others

I am sure there is more that I did not mention above. The point is, 3D is not dead as some self-proclaimed journalists decided because of the lack of high visibility promotion of 3D at CES. In fact, it is just the opposite. 3D is maturing with a continual flow of new products, innovations, content and business deals. It just won’t be so “in your face” – so to speak.