Are big-screen TVs killing the film industry?

The movie industry is still making money. Lots of money, in fact. LCD TVs really took off in 2006, and every year since LCD technology has been improving and coming down in price, leading to heavier adoption of HDTVs than ever before [source: MSNBC]. During that same time, though, the United States box office upped its gross from $9.2 billion to $10.5 billion [source: Box Office Mojo]. But those numbers don't necessarily mean all is well in movie land. Overall revenue dipped slightly in 2010, despite the fact that movie ticket prices rose from an average of $6.55 to $7.89 between 2006 and 2010. While 2009 was a banner year for movies, in general the 2000s have shown a trend toward fewer tickets sold [source: Box Office Mojo].

By selling pricier tickets, the theaters have managed to keep their profits high. Higher-priced digital 3-D tickets has helped with that, adding several dollars to the average ticket price and driving sales of movies like "Avatar"  [source: Box Office Mojo]. As a short-term solution, movie theaters can compete with the living room big screen by offering 3-D movies, and the extra profit helps them make up for slightly lowered attendance. But 3-D sales trended downward overall in 2010, and certain poorly-reviewed films like "The Last Airbender" don't help build buzz for the technology [source: The Wrap]. High-profile releases like "Avatar" will likely still draw viewers to 3-D movies, and theaters will likely continue to add 3-D screens to support them. But the remains will audiences stay interested or will they start watching at home?

Every year, while movie theater ticket prices go up, HDTV prices come down. That gives the home theater two big advantages: convenience and affordability. At home you can watch what you want, when you want, and movies are making the journey from the silver screen to DVD or Blu-ray faster than ever. Those lower prices also apply to the digital 3-D phenomenon. That's right -- you can get 3-D TV in your home, too. That gives home theater another advantage, no matter how public opinion on 3-D changes.

If digital 3-D truly becomes a must-have part of the movie experience, 3-D TVs will grow more affordable year after year as the consumer technology improves. If it proves to be nothing but a gimmick, non-3-D plasma and LCD sets will still be around at even lower prices than the more complicated 3-D televisions. The pace of technological progression will always favor home cinema; in 2006, LCD TVs were just taking off as viable HD solutions. In 2011, many TVs now use OLED backlighting for superior image quality in dramatically thinner packages and screen sizes continue to grow while the bulkiness of TVs decreases. For example, Samsung offers a 2011 model 65-inch 1080p TV that's less than 1-inch thick [source: Samsung].

Even if theater profits are still high, lower attendance numbers could eventually become a concern. Theater attendance was down 5.2 percent in 2010; the question is, can theaters remain profitable if that trend continues [source: Box Office Mojo]? Between big-screen TVs and home theater projectors, the movie theater industry has to find new ways to draw people to the theater if it wants to keep pace with the appeal of relaxing on the couch with an endless stream of Netflix content.