Panasonic has announced that the technology they’ve been working for to display three-dimensional pictures on plasma televisions is nearly ready for market, indicating that end-users could easily have the technology in their home by this time next year.

3D technology is not new, having been utilized in a sparing manner by television and film studios in the past few years with television shows like Third Rock From the Sun and films like The Polar Express using early adaptations of the necessary hardware and content to portray 3D-like images. The industry has been waiting on standardization of interface connections and portable media for the technology to really take hold in the mass market and the burgeoning HDMI and Blu-ray formats are well on their way.

Panasonic will aim to release 3D-enabled televisions and the special glasses necessary to utilize them in the next year while other manufacturers, including Playstation 3-maker Sony, will continue to work towards bringing other entertainment sources to us with an added dimension through 3D gaming and movies, with industry analysts expecting more than $11 billion dollars in sales of home 3D equipment by 2013.

It’s going to feature in every aspect of home entertainment. That’s how strongly we feel about it – this time it’s for real. We see 3D as a pillar of our strategy, we are all getting geared up on this theme.

Panasonic press release