3-D TVs may take a while to find a place in region

Watching reruns of "Avatar" through $150 glasses might hold little appeal for first-time buyers of 3-D television sets, but local retailers and one national consumer expert expect steep prices to fall gradually as the new market builds.

Content for 3-D TV is mostly limited so far to blockbusters like "Avatar" and new films like "Alice in Wonderland," but despite that, Panasonic and Samsung Electronics Co. this past week launched limited marketing of the sets.

For $3,000, Samsung buyers get a 46-inch set, two pairs of glasses and a 3-D Blu-ray player. Panasonic's suggested retail price is $2,900 for a 50-inch plasma set, one pair of glasses and a 3-D Blu-ray player. An extra pair of glasses costs $150.

James K. Willcox, a senior electronics editor with Consumer Reports' magazine and online portal, says there is a compelling reason for manufacturers to begin promoting the pricey product: the success of those two, high-grossing films.

"From a studio's perspective," Willcox said, "they're putting people in seats and they're charging people more, so if you talk to Pixar, every movie going forward will be 3-D; if you talk to Dreamworks, most will be. So, there's a ton of 3-D movies in the pipeline, which wasn't the case a few years ago."

Locally, owners at Keith's Appliance & TV of Norwich and Paul's TV Sales & Service of Groton say they expect to have 3-D TVs available for sale within the next month. Keith's will carry Panasonic, Sony and Samsung; Paul's will carry Sony.

Samsung sets will be shipping to Roberts Audio Video in New London soon, said owner Barry Levinson, and so-called 2-D TVs that are "3-D capable" will provide that high-quality picture to keep customers happy as they wait for the content to catch up with technology.

"Most people may buy a better set that happens to be 3-D, although they're not going to be using the 3-D feature necessarily to start out with because there's not going to be very much to watch," Levinson said. "So, we're more concerned that the sets we sell are good quality for current broadcasts, because that's what they're going to be (watching) 99 percent of the time."

Tech-savvy "early adopters" and people investing in a new TV because they need one are the people most likely to buy a 3-D set early on, said Willcox. They're more willing to spend the money, knowing they're getting in on a technology that is likely here to stay, he said.

"This is your year for a TV: What do you do?" Willcox asked rhetorically. "I would future-proof that purchase by getting that 3-D set."

Willcox is currently testing two brands for Consumer Reports and says the deep interest from colleagues probably reflects the "microcosm of excitement you're going to see" as consumers are exposed to the technology.

Levinson expects about 10 percent of his clientele to consider making a 3-D TV purchase this year, mostly because it will be something they'll want in the future, as more film titles and some dedicated TV channels become available for 3-D viewing.

"We think, by this fall, people investing in a primary television set will be concerned the set has 3-D compatibility, even if they're not watching much 3-D yet," Levinson said.

Keith Burzycki, the owner of Keith's, said the price is likely to become much more reasonable as manufacturers work out bugs and market the TVs to a growing segment of the population. LCD sets have dropped in price from as high as $5,000 to $500 today, though this has taken a while, he said.

How soon that high, 3-D sticker price will fall is hard to say, but Burzycki believes that "with each new innovation they come up with ... the price will drop. It always does."

Levinson agrees, but thinks it could be as long as five years before 3-D sets become "mainstream."

"We're watching it closely, and when the timing is right, we will be there with the product," he said.

Associated Press reports were included in this story.

p.daddona@theday.com