All the big name Consumer Electronics giants like Sony, Panasonic, Samsung, Philips, Vizio, etc. have announced a slew of Plasma and LCD 3D TVs that will be released over the course of 2010. These manufacturers are aggressively marketing 3D televisions and making a strong case for their introduction into the consumer’s homes. However, for many of us, this switch to 3D displays has left us confused with many unanswered questions about 3D display technology. This guide for buying 3D TVs has been compiled to help you choose the best 3D plasma or LCD TV within the limitations of your budget. In this guide, we will look at various aspects of 3D televisions and prioritize on the most important aspects of these TVs so you can make a well informed decision when purchasing your shiny new 3D TV.

What is a 3D TV?

Of course, in the most basic sense, a 3D TV is any television that is capable of delivering images and videos in three dimensions. These displays achieve this by using new technology so as to deliver different images to each eye of the viewer. When each eye sees the same scene, but at a slightly different angle (as we do in real life) then our brain puts these together and is able to interpret information in the third dimension.

While terms like LCD TV and Plasma TV refer to a very specific display technology, the term 3D TV does not refer to any specific type of 3D display technology. In fact, we will have Plasma, LCD and DLP 3D TVs released in 2010. This can be confusing in itself. Various manufacturers are betting on different 3D display technologies to deliver the best possible 3D experience. These involve active shutter glasses that are synced with the television display as well as passive 3D techniques involving a TV display that outputs polarized light. Some manufacturers are also working on glassless 3D TV displays although their performance at the moment leaves a lot to be desired. The hope is that over time they will be able to develop and improve the glassless 3D  technology to the point that it will replace the current 3D technology that relies on passive or active glasses.

How do 3D Televisions work? What is the best 3D technology for me?

The answer to this question is unfortunately not a short and easy one. As mentioned above, different 3D TVs can use very different display technologies to achieve the 3D effect. Ultimately, all these techniques deliver 3D visuals by using some technological innovation so as to deliver a different image to each eye of the viewer. If you are interested in the technology behind 3D displays then I would recommend reading our in-depth guides on how a 3D TV works as well as our comparison of Active and Passive 3D TV technology. Here we will briefly summarize these technologies and also list out their pros and cons so you have a better understanding of what to look for and what to be wary of when buying your new 3D TV. We should mention that currently all the 3D TV technologies that are being commercialized do require some form of eyewear to achieve this 3D effect. However, these aren’t very obtrusive and the majority of people are quick to forget that they are wearing 3d glasses when they are immersed in a 3D environment.

Anaglyph technology

This is the old 3D that we are familiar with. It relies on using glasses with different color tints on each eye piece. The images for the left and right eye are displayed simultaneously on the screen and are skewed relative to each other. In addition, the image for each eye is displayed in colors that cannot pass through the tinted glass of the other eye. As a result each eye receives a unique image and we are able to perceive in 3D. However, this technology is fraught with many issues such as terrible color fidelity (due to the tinted films) and a very underwhelming 3D experience on the whole. Thankfully none of the big name manufacturers are trying to sell this old and outdated technology to us consumers, but if you do see any 3D TV sporting anaglyph technology, be sure to keep  a safe distance as nothing remotely good can come off it.

Active Shutter Glasses based 3D Displays

Active shutter glasses contain liquid crystals and polarization filters which help turn the glass dark when a small voltage is applied. This applied voltage is turned on and off at a very rapid rate (at least 120 times per second – 120 Hz) so that each eye piece alternates between being dark or being transparent and allowing the TV image to go through to the viewer’s eye. The glasses are synced with the 3D TV so that when the frame for the left eye is displayed only the left eye piece is transparent, whereas when the frame for the right eye is displayed on the 3D display the left eye-piece turns dark and the right eye-piece is made to be transparent.

Advantages

The main advantages of Active Shutter based TVs is that it keeps the display price relatively low as there isn’t any significant modification required for current LCD and Plasma 3D TVs to incorporate active shutter technology. The only necessary modification is a higher refresh rate that is required to provide separate images to each eye without sacrificing the overall viewing experience and a sync unit to sync the 3D TV images with the Active shutter glasses. Also, this technology is based on mature display technologies such as LCD, Plasma and DLP which means that there will be less quirks and penalties involved for early adopters as the 3D TV manufacturers will already be very experienced with making these types of displays.

Disadvantages

People who are very sensitive to refresh rates might perceive some flickering when viewing 120Hz 3D displays with active shutter glasses (since each eye only sees 60 Hz). This can however be alleviated by going for a higher-end 3D TV that features over 240 Hz refresh rates. Additionally, the active shutter glasses require batteries and are also more expensive than passive polarized glasses. This will be an issue for those who like to regularly have many people over for TV/Movie viewings. However, there is a good chance that the prices might be subsidized to encourage wide scale adoption of 3D TVs.

Passive Polarized 3D TVs

If you have watched a recent 3D movie at the theaters then you have probably already experienced a passive polarized 3D display. These displays work by displaying two images on the screen simultaneously (although they can also be displayed in a sequential manner), but with each image having a different polarization. If you would like to learn more about what Polarization is and how these Polarized 3D displays work, feel free to read about this in more detail in the 3D Technology Guide. What is important to keep in mind is that in the case of these ‘passive’ displays, the 3D glasses are simple glasses containing a polarized filter for each eyepiece. Due to the difference in the polarization filters for each eye and correspondingly, the difference in polarization of the 2 images displayed on the 3D display, each eye only receives a single image that is meant for it thus allowing for a high-quality 3D experience.

Advantages

Passive polarized displays provide excellent color fidelity and are good at eliminating ghosting issues due to the excellent rejection between the left and right eye views. In addition, since it doesn’t rely on the active shutter technique, it guarantees a flicker free 3D experience. Finally, since the glasses are passive in nature, they are very cheap which is a significant advantage over active shutter glasses.

Disadvantages

Currently, this technology is primarily restricted to 3D projectors and is much more expensive in comparison to active-shutter based displays. While there is some work being done on creating regular 3D TVs incorporating passive polarized techniques, it does require some fundamental changes to the way the image is displayed on the TV screen. This means that the technology still needs a while to fully mature before it is ready to compete with active shutter LCD and Plasma displays. In the mean time it will probably be restricted to hardcore 3D junkies who are looking to spend a ton of money on expensive 3D projectors for their home theater systems.

Glassless 3D TVs

While everyone would ideally like to have glassless 3D TVs, the truth of the matter is that we are still quite some way away from having the technology to create a high quality glassless 3D TV. There are severe limitations with many of the prototypes that have been worked on by some companies, such as a lower screen resolution than regular LCD and Plasma 3D TVs as well as very restrictive viewing angle and viewing distance specifications. In addition, they don’t work well for multiple viewers at the moment. While glassless 3D TVs are certainly the holy grail for display makers, it will still take a few more years before there is any chance of having a high quality glassless 3D TV display.

So which technology should you go with?

We believe that Active shutter based 3D TVs will be the best option for consumers over 2010 and and 2011. It is a robust and mature technology that brings a very small increase in TV price for the added advantage of being 3D capable. Picture quality for regular 2D content will also be unaffected, making this the best 3D technology for consumers at the moment.

The 8 Step Guide to Buying the best 3D TV for your needs

Now that you have learned everything you need to know about 3D TVs to make a well informed purchase lets go through the basic steps you should go through when buying your new 3D Television set.

Step 1: Choose the 3D Display Technology that you are interested in

This is the easy part as we can pretty much make this decision for you. Unless you plan on spending a lot of money on a fancy polarized 3D Projector for your home theater system, Active Shutter Display 3D technology is your best bet at the moment.

Step 2: Choose between Plasma and LCD 3D TVs

This is a bit trickier to do. As explained in the previous section and in more detail in thePlasma vs LCD 3D TV guide, there are pros and cons associated with both technologies. It does seem however, that Plasma will have the initial edge (albeit a small one) over LCD TVs due to their superior refresh rates and ability to display full 1080p 3D content without sacrificing onscreen resolution. Keep in mind that Plasma TVs are typically made only 42 inches or larger, so if you are in the market for a smaller TV then your best bet is a good 3D LCD TV.

Step 3: Consider your budget and choose your 3D Television Screen Size

Before you begin, you should take a look at your budget and determine what size TV will fall within your budget. You don’t have to decide down to the exact screen size, but probably the size range that you would be looking to purchase. The reason we recommend doing this is because Screen size is the single most important variable that drives the net cost of a television display. If you initially choose your 3D TV size based on your budget, you will then have room to consider different models and makes of 3D TVs in that size range to make your final decision.

Step 4: Determine what viewing distances and Screen resolution will work based on your floor plan

This is a critical step that I cannot emphasize enough. Many people fail to take this into consideration when buying their TVs and end up spending extra money on features and higher resolutions than what is required. I would very strongly recommend reading theOptimal 3D TV viewing distance and Screen Size guide to understand the various factors you need to take into consideration when choosing your 3D TV.

To briefly summarize the contents of the article: If you are sitting too far away from your TV display then you can no longer resolve the difference between 1080p and 720p resolution on your TV screen. This is because even with 20/20 vision, there is a limit to the resolving power of our eyes in seeing tiny details. As you are probably well aware, there is a premium price involved in buying a true 1080p display. This is why you need to pay close attention to what viewing distances you can hope to achieve given the screen size of the TV you plan on buying. If you will be sitting far enough that you cannot make out the difference between 720p and 1080p, then why waste extra money on 1080p?

If you’re wondering why everyone doesn’t just buy 720p 3D TVs and sit further away, the answer is that for an immersive 3D Experience you would ideally like to have a larger field of view for the TV screen (Experts recommend a field of view of around 36-60 degrees). In the case of 720p displays, if you sit too close, you can see the pixellation due to the lower screen resolution. Thus you are limited in how close you can sit to the 3D TV display. In the case of 1080p displays, the higher resolution lets you sit closer to the TV without seeing this pixellation and lets you enjoy a larger field of view and thus a more immersive and fun 3D experience.

So if your floorplan allows you to sit as close to your 1080p TV as recommended in the chart below, then you should definitely aim to get a 1080p 3D TV. However, if you are restricted to sitting further from your TV, and your viewing distance is closer to that listed for the 720p displays, then you might as well save some money and buy a 720p display. You can use the money you save to buy a higher end 720p 3D TV with better picture quality and other bells and whistles.

Step 5: Choose the Refresh Rate for your 3D TV

If you are planning on buying a Plasma 3d TV then you do not need to consider this in great detail as Plasma TVs have a high enough refresh rate due to the nature of the technology such that they are naturally well suited for displaying 3D material. On the other hand, when it comes to LCD TVs, you want the screen to have a high enough refresh rate so that you do not have any perceivable flicker when viewing 3D content. The minimum refresh rate for LCD 3D TVs is 120 Hz, which allows a 60Hz refresh rate per eye. For some who are sensitive to flicker, this might be too low and cause some discomfort while viewing 3D content with active shutter displays. If you can afford it, we would definitely recommend a 240 Hz LCD display which will get rid of any such flicker issues. If you get the chance, I would strongly recommend trying out a 120 Hz display at a store to see if it works for you. There is no point in paying the extra premium if you don’t need it. Finally, I would stay away from paying extra money to buy LCD 3D TVs that are marketed as having 480 Hz refresh rates. This is a misleading tactic by manufacturers and does not actually translate to a true 480 Hz refresh rate. The benefits over 240 Hz are marginal at best and certainly not worth the price premium in our opinion.

Step 6: 3D TV Picture Quality – How Important is it to You?

Picture quality is obviously a very important part of a new television purchase. Ideally we would all like to have the best possible picture quality. Unfortunately, this can also come at a huge price premium. Deciding how much you are willing to pay as a premium for enhanced picture quality is a very personal decision. I know people who are TV Nazis and will refuse to even consider any TV unless it has the best possible reviews regarding black levels, color fidelity and contrast ratio. Then on the other end of the spectrum, you have people like my lovely and awesome fiancée who doesn’t care if a TV show is in SD, 720p or 1080p. Obviously if it was my fiancée buying a new TV, I would recommend spending money on the biggest screen, rather than trying to buy a higher end set with marginal improvements in the picture quality.

I won’t tell you what is the right thing to do, but I do advise you to not get carried away with internet flaming threads and fanboys who claim that 3D TV XYZ has the BEST POSSIBLE Picture Quality EVER! It very well might have the best image quality ever, but ask yourself whether you would rather spend the few hundred dollars more for this improvement, or whether you would rather save that money and spend on a good quality mid to high end 3D TV. You could even put that money into upgrading your screen size. Ultimately, I think that if you are on a budget, a larger screen is worth much more than minor improvements in 3D image quality. Of course, you do want to make sure that you don’t buy a television with atrocious image quality that turns dark scenes (think Dark Knight) into a dark, muddy soup. To make sure you don’t find that situation, you can rely on us to provide you with 3D TV reviews s o that you know that you will be buying a good quality 3D TV  .

Step 7: Find the Best 3D TVs for your needs

Now that you have decided upon the 3D TV technology of choice as well as your Screen size of interest, you are ready to go searching for the best 3D TV that matches your budget and your needs.  We have listed the best recommended 3D TVs in the table below. You can also browse through the 3D TV listings based on Screen Size.

Step 8: Where to buy a 3D TV

There are many options when it comes to purchasing your 3D TV. Of course there are two options when it comes to buying a TV, you can look to buy it at a regular Brick and Mortar (B&M) retailer or at an online dealer. We have listed some of the pros and cons of buying from each and this should help you decide on where you would like to purchase your 3D TV from.

Brick and Mortar Retail Stores

Buying electronics at Brick and Mortar stores leave me very conflicted. One of the obvious advantages are the fact that you can easily return an item if you aren’t satisfied with it, or if it is defective. Additionally, you don’t have to pay anything for shipping and you are instantly gratified because you have the TV in your living room a few minutes after shelling out the dough for it. However, that is pretty much where all the good things end.

In our experience, you can almost always find a better deal for 3D TVs (and regular LCD/Plasma Televisions) at a reputable online store. You might even get lucky and not have to pay sales tax if the store does not have any presence in your state and a lot of online sellers have free or very reasonable shipping rates to entice consumers to purchase their TVs from their websites. Brick and Mortar stores also try to get you by up selling additional items at exorbitant prices, but hopefully you will be smart enough to avoid all of that. Don’t EVER waste your heard earned money on ridiculously expensive Monster cables. Here’s a tip for you, head on over to Monoprice.com for good quality A/V cables at extremely reasonable rates. Retailers will also charge you very high rates for warranties on electronic items as well as 3D TV accessories.  When it comes to discount displays at B&M stores, be very suspicious of the stores and their reasons for discounting items. Unless you’re at a store that is going out of business and selling off all their inventory, including top ticket items, they are probably selling old/out-dated televisions, floor models, etc. Whatever you do, make sure to compare 3D TV prices online before you take the plunge at a B&M store.

Another Hint – You can ALWAYS buy an extended warranty for an item online, even if you buy the item in a brick and mortar store. We would recommend you to always do this as you can save a lot of money with online warranties.

Online Retailers

Reputable online retailers such as Amazon, Newegg and Vanns have huge inventories and usually provide great prices and free or reasonable shipping on most 3D TV displays. In addition, they are authorized sellers for all the big name 3D TV manufacturers. This means that they have excellent return policies and you can buy electronics from them without any hesitation. It is very important to buy 3D TVs from trusted sellers when dealing with online transactions. You should always check www.resellerratings.com to learn about the reputation of any online store that you are not familiar with. You should also make sure that they are an authorized seller for the brand name 3D TV that you are purchasing. The old adage – If it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn’t true is very appropriate when it comes to online prices of electronic items. Be ware of “bait and switch” operations that promise exceptionally low prices and then try to sell you standard accessories and enormously inflated prices.

Ultimately, you will invariably find the best prices (including tax+shipping) at a reputable online store than at a B&M store. The other advantage of buying online is that you do not feel pressured into making any quick decisions and you can take your time and research your choice to the point that you are absolutely certain about your choice. Do check our list of top 3D TVs for a given screen size and do check out our 3D TV reviews so that you can find the best 3D Television for your budget and requirements.

Our Recommended Retailer

We at Best 3D TVs strongly recommend Amazon for their low prices, consumer friendly return policies and impeccable reputation. To help you find all the 3D TVs in one place, we have setup an online shop that includes all the 3D TVs and 3D accessories in Amazon’s inventory in one place. Feel free to browse through it and do some research on the best 3d tv for you. I hope you found this 3D TV Buying guide to be useful. Feel free to leave us a comment with feedback or questions. All the best and happy shopping!