The TV industry bet on 3D after Avatar — every manufacturer abandoned it by 2017

3D television was the industry's great post-Avatar bet. After the 3D blockbuster in 2010, every major TV maker rushed glasses-based 3D into its line-ups, and broadcasters built channels around it: DirecTV and ESPN both launched 3D channels in 2010. By 2012, 3D TVs accounted for 23% of all dollars spent on TVs in the US, according to NPD Group.

The collapse was fast. DirecTV stopped broadcasting 3D in 2012 and ESPN shut its 3D channel in 2013. Vizio, Sharp and TCL quietly removed 3D from their lines, and in January 2017 the last two holdouts — LG and Sony — announced their 2017 TVs would not include 3D at all. LG's director of home entertainment told CNET that purchase research showed 3D was 'not a top buying consideration' and usage was low; the industry moved its marketing weight to 4K and HDR.

The failure was a coordination problem dressed as a technology problem. 3D needed glasses that were clunky and made viewers self-conscious, it needed special content that never arrived in volume, and it demanded calibration that could strain eyes. A 3D TV was a perfectly good 2D TV, so most buyers simply never used the feature they had paid extra for.