The improvement in general atmosphere at NAB 2010 was noticeable. While still cautious about the future, the communications industry is decidedly more upbeat about its prospects than at the close of the 2009 show.

A lot of the outward excitement was over 3-D broadcasting — both for special events at cinemas and for the future TV market. All parts of the chain — content, delivery and end user — are exited about the possibilities of 3-D and the potential revenue. The demonstrations of the technology throughout the exhibition hall were impressive.

But I remain cautiously optimistic about the near-term potential. The delivery portion of 3-D seems ready, as work done for HDTV can easily be used for delivering 3-D signals. But there is no common standard for 3-D TV, as competitors angle to make their 3-D offering the market choice. The problem is that this reminds me of the start of mobile TV, where lack of agreement on any common method has delayed consumer adoption.

The positive takeaway from NAB lies more in the way the industry is taking a fresh look at the markets that already are established and developing new ways to capitalize on the potential revenue. As I noted previously, the phrase “monetize your content” was used often, as content providers and delivery companies look to halt the free distribution of the product.

One company even developed the phrase “multi-screen revenue security,” which I think is an effective summation of the need to make sure that in the rush to delivery content anytime, anywhere, the industry must be focused on not losing the return on investment.

The mix of efforts to protect and hone existing revenue streams while also taking a measured approach to developing new revenue sources should play well in both the investor community and among end users, the two groups the communications sector needs to pay attention to going forward.