Consumers don't want to pay more for 3D...

...but Dreamworks boss says they do

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22 September 2009 14:00 GMT / By Stuart Miles

Consumers aren't ready to pay extra to watch 3D movies at the cinema or in the home even though that's what movie studios have planned, new research shows.

The survey conducted by In-Stat Digital shows that 64% of consumers surveyed in the US expressed at least some interest in 3D content, but 25% of consumers said they wouldn’t pay any premium for a 3D-enabled TV.

However, those numbers contradict Dreamworks recent findings that people were happy to pay a premium for 3D content in the cinema.

"The consumer has shown now, time and time again, not just a willingness but an aggressive ambition to trade up for a premium experience", Dreamworks CEO Jeffery Katzenberg said at a 3D conference, 3D-Summit, earlier in the month.

According to Variety magazine the Dreamworks boss said theatrical margins on "Monsters vs. Aliens", DreamWorks Animation's first S3D release, were up 30%.

In the home Blu-ray player owners are, according to In-Stat, more likely to pay more over DVD owners, of which 33% said they wouldn’t spend more money for a 3D disc over its 2D counterpart.