Three or four years ago , it was supposed to be the next big thing in consumer tech : the magic of 3-D , right in your living room . Fast-forward to today , however , and the truth comes right at you . Despite waves of hype , 3-D TV has never caught on . And now that one of its biggest early champions is abandoning the format , some are wondering whether the 3-D experiment should be declared dead . ESPN , which in 2010 announced that it would offer events like World Cup soccer and the NCAA national championship football game in 3-D , now says it will stop doing so this year . `` ESPN 3D was great at home but due to low adoption of 3D to home , we are discontinuing to focus on other products for fans and affiliates , '' ESPN spokeswoman Katina Arnold announced on Twitter . She followed up by promising that the network will keep trying to push the boundaries of the viewing experience . `` ESPN 3D production unmatched ! '' she wrote . `` As tech leader , ESPN will continue to experiment with things like UHDTV ( ultra high-definition ) . '' Analysts say ESPN 's reasoning reflects a sad truth for an industry that once thought the runaway success of movies like `` Avatar '' meant consumers would have similar interest in watching 3-D in their living rooms . `` The excitement around 3-D TV was coming from many places : the industry , the TV manufacturers and the content providers , '' said Carolina Milanesi , a technology analyst for Gartner Research . `` But not the consumers , and ultimately that is what proved fatal . '' According to data from research firm DisplaySearch , adoption of 3-D TV in North America peaked in early 2011 , when about 11 % of TV owners had one . But growth has stalled and even dipped since then . The technology fared better among TV owners in the rest of the world , growing to about 20 % of the market before beginning to slide late last year . Quite simply , Milanesi said , consumers just have n't considered it worth the money . Combine that with consumer-tech trends moving in the opposite direction , and it 's a recipe for failure , she said . `` The lack of content and the higher cost of the hardware made adoption slow , '' she said . `` And now we see consumers focus their money on other consumer electronics such as tablets , adding screens to their home rather than focusing on the main screen . '' Complaints about home 3-D have centered around high prices , the limited number of 3-D offerings and the awkward glasses that made viewing uncomfortable over long periods of time . And many consumers , having recently traded in their clunky tube TVs for high-def flat screens , were n't ready to replace their sets yet again with newer models . ESPN 's 3-D channel has been carried by several cable networks , but AT & T 's Uverse dumped all 3-D in 2011 , saying it was too expensive . That 's not the sort of thing that 's going to encourage many producers or networks to make their own 3-D shows or pay for the pricey equipment needed to shoot live events in three dimensions . A few other 3-D providers remain , most notably 3net , a channel jointly owned by Discovery , Sony and IMAX . In a statement , 3Net said ESPN 's decision would have `` no impact on our business . '' `` It 's understandable that content creators are hesitant to continue investing in costly new technologies if the viewer base is not growing at an attractive rate , '' said Paul Gagnon , DisplaySearch 's director of TV research in North America . `` This move by ESPN might signal that the momentum has shifted away from 3-D in the U.S. , and TV manufacturers and retailers would be wise to take note . '' That momentum appears now to be swinging toward the technology Arnold mentioned in her post : ultra HD , also known as 4K TV . Screens on that emerging format promise definition that 's four times sharper than regular HD . Sony is leading the pack with a giant 4K model already on the market and others hitting stores soon . But other manufacturers are n't far behind . As with 3-D TV , there 's still not a ton of available content for that level of definition . But 4K is in its infancy , and observers , including Milanesi , predict it will catch on in a way that home 3-D never has .
ESPN announced it will suspend 3-D TV broadcasts by end of the year . The prospect of 3-D excited the TV industry , but consumers never took to it . Consumers complained about cost , awkward glasses , scarce 3-D content . Analysts say ultra-HD , 4K television may be the next wave .