They Don't Make Them Anymore, but You Can Still Watch 3D TV at Home (2024)

While 3D TVs are no longer made for consumer purchase, there are still millions in use. There are also video projectors available that offer this viewing option and a continuous flow of 3D Blu-ray discs and 3D streaming content. If you own a 3D TV or video projector, here's how to get the most from your 3D viewing experience.

3D TV and Home Theater: The Basics

There's a lot of confusion regarding the 3D home theater experience. What do you need to watch it? What's available to watch?

You need a 3D TV or video projector, a 3D-enabled Blu-ray Disc player, and some 3D-compatible Blu-ray discs. If you want to watch 3D content via HD cable or satellite, you need a 3D-compatible box and a subscription to 3D channels.

You need to wear glasses to watch 3D. However, these aren't the cheap paper glasses. You may even find some devices with glasses-free 3D.

The Pros and Cons of Watching 3D at Home

3D at home can provide an immersive experience for movies, sports, games, and more. Some 3D TVs perform real-time 2D to 3D conversion. However, you'll spend more money on home theater gear, and you might be disappointed in the amount of content available. For help weighing the options, learn the pros and cons of 3D TV.

3D Glasses

Glasses are required to watch 3D content at home. 3D glasses provide a separate image to each eye. The brain combines the two images into a single 3D image. Not all 3D glasses work the same way, and not all 3D glasses work with all 3D TVs.

How to Adjust a 3D TV for the Best Viewing Results

One of the frustrating things about watching 3D at home is the need to adjust the 3D TV to get the best viewing experience.

Most consumers bring their TV home, unbox it, go through any quick setup function, and leave it at that. The quick setup or default settings may not be the best ones to use when watching 3D.

At a minimum, adjust the screen brightness and turn off motion blur when watching 3D movies. Toggle through the TV's presets to see which looks best. Note which one results in 3D images with the least amount of ghosting or crosstalk.

Some 3D TVs and projectors have default 3D presets. These presets might appear under names like 3D Dynamic or 3D Bright Mode.

Connect a 3D Blu-ray Disc Player to a Non-3D Receiver

As 3D moves into the home theater and home entertainment environment, you may be faced with upgrading your TV and adding or upgrading to a 3D Blu-ray Disc player. However, what about your home theater receiver?

Surround sound formats don't affect 3D operations. Your home theater receiver determines how to make the physical audio connections between a 3D-enabled Blu-ray Disc player and the home theater receiver.

If you want to be fully 3D signal compliant across the entire connection chain of your home theater system, you need a receiver that's 3D compliant by having HDMI 1.4a connections, especially if you rely on your home theater receiver for video switching or processing.

You can avoid this costly upgrade by planning ahead. There are three ways to use a non-3D AV receiver with a 3D TV and still use a non-3D compliant home theater receiver with a 3D TV and a 3D Blu-ray Disc player.

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They Don't Make Them Anymore, but You Can Still Watch 3D TV at Home (2024)

FAQs

Can you still watch 3D movies at home? ›

A popular media service in the United States, Vudu is owned by parent company Walmart and provides 3D movie experiences with any compatible devices such as your 3D television. You can access content from Vudu from many platforms, including Playstation, Xbox, and TiVo.

Why don't they make 3D TVs anymore? ›

But the reality of purchasing and wearing 3D glasses at home soon lost its appeal and - alongside other problems like lackluster tech in other areas and shoddy 3D conversions - led to disappointing sales of these new TVs just as they should have been just getting started.

How can I watch 3D on my TV at home? ›

You need a 3D TV or video projector, a 3D-enabled Blu-ray Disc player, and some 3D-compatible Blu-ray discs. If you want to watch 3D content via HD cable or satellite, you need a 3D-compatible box and a subscription to 3D channels. You need to wear glasses to watch 3D. However, these aren't the cheap paper glasses.

Can you still get 3D TV? ›

tv-technology

But 3D didn't disappear completely, even though manufacturers were no longer shouting about it. Most new high-end TVs still have it. Though they're no longer branded 3D TVs. They're 4K UHD TVs or OLED TVs that include 3D as one of their myriad features.

Are any movies still made in 3D? ›

Which isn't to say that people stopped making 3D films altogether. They're still being released; this year's Doctor Strange had a 3D release, as did Dune, Encanto, Godzilla vs Kong and the last Star Wars movie.

Who still makes 3D TVs? ›

As of 2017, most 3D TV sets and services are no longer available from manufacturers.

Can a smart TV play 3D movies? ›

The Smart TV menu provides a wealth of 3D content on demand, from 3D movies, exclusive music videos and concerts. You can also convert your 2D content into 3D with LG's outstanding 2D to 3D conversion technology, which makes otherwise dull motion pictures into vibrant 3D images.

Can I use a 3D TV as a normal TV? ›

Also, sometimes it was not communicated well that all 3D TVs can display images in standard 2D. In other words, you can use a 3D TV just like any other TV in cases where 3D content is not available if 2D viewing is desired or more appropriate.

Will 3D TVs make a comeback? ›

An intriguing figure from a report by the research firm A2Z Market Research suggests that, improbably, 3D TV might get another shot at glory as a consumer technology. According to a summary of the report and one of the firm's analysts, the global 3D TV market is expected to grow nearly 25 percent from 2022 to 2028.

Why did the 3D TV fail? ›

Many home 3D TVs used the active shutter system, requiring a pair of glasses that would essentially open and close rapidly in sync to produce the 3D image. It's these glasses that required charging and made 3D a little bit more cumbersome in the home.

How do 3D TVs work without glasses? ›

You see through only one eye at any given moment, but the alternation happens fast enough that you perceive a single 3D image. Figure 4. Engineers are developing 3D TVs that work without glasses. Instead, they use lenses in front of the screen itself that direct the proper portion of the image to each eye.

Can you still see a 3D movie without glasses? ›

3D viewing options available and in use for a home or cinema require the use of 3D glasses. Still, technologies in various stages of development enable a 3D image to be viewed on a TV or other video display device without glasses.

Can I use movie Theatre 3D glasses at home? ›

No. The 3D Movie Is The Projection Of Two Images Or Screen By Using Projector. 3D Glasses Are Provided In Theater ; These Are 3D Polarized Glasses.

Are there any 3D movies on streaming services? ›

We do know, however, that some of the best Disney Plus movies will offer 3D support, including Avatar: The Way of Water, the hugely popular Marvel movie Avengers: Endgame, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Pixar's Elemental, and Encanto.

How do people who wear glasses watch 3D movies? ›

For many people who wear glasses, bigger truly is better. Forget about those cheap plastic glasses the theater provides you. For hardcore movie buffs who wear glasses, there's only one way to go: your own prescription 3D glasses.

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