In a new study by Park Associates, it has been revealed that although 3D TVs are steadily selling, adoption has been slower than expected. In addition, it was found the majority of 3D TV owners surveyed are definitely satisfied with their purchase, and use it often to view 3D movies and play 3D games, but the bottleneck for many consumers continues to be higher prices of 3D TVs, combined with lack of 3D content growth.

In analyzing the study results, Park Associates points out that 3D is not the same as HD in that the desire of consumers is not to watch everything in 3D, but it is just a part of several options for accessing entertainment, which also includes standard 2D broadcast, cable/satellite, and programming streamed from the internet.

For more details on the study, read a summary posted by Park Associates.

For more on 3D, check out my Complete Guide to Watching 3D at Home. Also, cast your vote in the following poll:

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Dolby Labs is definitely mindful that constant improvement in audio enhances both the movie theater and home theater experience, especially with its recent Dolby Atmos announcement. However, how much more can the audio experience be improved? Well, it looks like Dolby TrueHD, one of the main audio formats used for Blu-ray disc movies, has room to accommodate more audio information that the movie studios are giving it, and Dolby Labs has decided to take advantage of this.

It seems that while Dolby TrueHD can accommodate up to 7.1 channels of audio at a depth of 24bits and a sampling rate of 96kHz, most movie soundtracks on the production end are mixed at a lower 48kHz sampling rate. The result is that although the sound is great, it is still not as clear and clean as it could be, especially at the higher frequencies.

However, there is an expense factor for production houses to upgrade their equipment. To counter this problem, Dolby Labs has teamed up with Meridian Audio to provide a software solution that will enable audio mixers to employ 96kHz upsampling technology to 48kHz sampled soundtracks. This means that the losseless audio soundtrack mastered to a Blu-ray disc can now be based on a new 96kHz upsample rather than the original 48kHz sampled source.

This produces a smoother sounding result without adding any additional audio artifacts, resulting in an even cleaner lossless audio stream than that has been previously been available for Blu-ray discs, and is compatible with Blu-ray Disc players or Home Theater Receivers that have built-in Dolby TrueHD decoders. In other words, you don't have buy a new Blu-ray Disc player or Home Theater receiver to take advantage of this improvement.

Watch for forthcoming Blu-ray Disc releases with the "Dolby TrueHD Advanced 96kHz Upsampling Label" shown in the upper right corner of this blog post (c) Dolby Labs.

For a detailed rundown, read an official announcement and White Paper from Dolby Labs, as well as further report from Big Picture Big Sound.

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If you are looking for a home theater receiver that can be purchased for about $400 but packs in a lot of features, consider the Onkyo TX-NR414. The TX-NR414 provides a 5.1 channel configuration, supported by an 80 watts-per-channel amplifier (measured with 2-channels driven from 20Hz to 20kHz), Dolby TrueHD and DTS-Master Audio decoding.

Also included is 3D and 1080p pass through, InstaPrevue switching for 6 HDMI inputs and one HDMI output. The HDMI output is also Audio Return Channel enabled. However, it must be noted that the this receiver does not provide added video processing or upscaling.

However, the big surprise is that the TX-NR414 also inludes a USB port for connecting an iPod/iPhone or USB flash drives, as well as the ability to access Internet Radio (Spotify, Pandora, and more), and content from DLNA compatible devices. You can connect to a home network or the internet using either the built-in Ethernet connection or the Onkyo UWF-1 Wireless USB Adapter.

If you are on a limited budget, but really wish you could get a home theater receiver that provides a lot of flexibility, definitely check out the Onkyo TX-NR414 as possible choice.

For additional suggestions, check out my list of Budget Home Theater Receivers.

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In another sign of the depressed TV market, Toshiba has announced that it will stop manufacturing TVs in Japan, at least for the time being. However, it will continue to manufacture TVs in its overseas plants. In addition, Toshiba's 2013 TV line-up will be see about 60% fewer models. Toshiba has been on the forefront in the development of 4K and glasses free 3D LED/LCD TVs, and there is no indication these products are targeted for reduction. Currently, sales of all models of Toshiba TVs account for about 5% of the worldwide market.

For more details and perspective, read the reports from ZDNET and BusinessWeek.

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