TECH REPORT | John Brandon

Does Every Home Theater Need a 3-D TV?

Looking to watch Avatar on DVD as it was meant to be seen? We test new 3-D TV models from Panasonic and Samsung.

 

Iker Ayestaran

The first 3-D TVs are rolling out this spring and summer, along with 3-D content from CBS, ESPN, and Fox Sports on DirecTV. We tested two sets to find out how watching 3-D in your living room stacks up against the big-screen experience.

  PANASONIC TC-P50VT20 SAMSUNG UN55C7000
IMAGE QUALITY Tiger Woods seemed to be standing right in front of us during a 3-D broadcast of the Masters tournament on this crisp 50-inch plasma-screen TV. We nearly jumped to avoid volleyball players diving out of the Samsung's 55-inch LCD screen, though the image was less vibrant than the Panasonic's.
GOGGLES The set comes with one pair of 3-D battery-powered goggles that look like oversize aviator glasses. Extra pairs cost $149 each. You will pony up $149 for each pair of this set's large goggles, which are a bit geeky looking. Kid-size goggles are available for $179 a pair.
WEB APPS Accessing online content on the TV is easy, thanks to preloaded apps for sites such as Netflix and Amazon Video On Demand. The Samsung has a bigger selection of Internet apps than the Panasonic. Another plus: It can convert any standard 2-D content into 3-D.
PRICE $2,500 $3,299

John Brandon is a contributing editor at Inc. magazine and writes the Tech Trends column in every issue. He also writes the Tech Report column for Inc.com. @jmbrandonbb