AV aficionados may be still debating whether or not 3D televisions are a gimmick, but one of the undebatable downsides of owning a 3D TV has been the high cost and lack of choice when it comes to buying 3D glasses.
Thankfully sanity has prevailed, with TV manufacturing giants Samsung Panasonic and Sony announcing the "Full HD Glasses Initiative". The aim of this cunning initiative is to develop a brand-independent standard for active 3D glasses so buyers are no longer locked into a single brand of glasses.
Wider 3D spec choices aside, consumers stand to benefit considerably from the initiative as increased economies of scale come into play, with 3D glasses likely to become increasingly affordable as a direct result.
At the time of writing, the initiative applies to active glasses only. These work by synchronising with TVs to make either the left or right lens opaque, depending on whether an image intended for the viewer's left or right eye is being displayed by the TV. Done rapidly enough, the brain is fooled into seeing a full 3D image.
Using infra-red to synchronise glasses however can be tricky, with energy efficient lighting and other stray light sources able to interfere. Because of this, many TV makers have switched to less interference-prone Bluetooth technology to keep glasses synchronised.
More often than not however, the current crop of active 3D specs from one manufacturer won't work with a different brands of 3D TV. This looks set to change under the "Full HD Glasses Initiative" which will effectively dictate a standard for active 3D glasses to work with multiple TV brands using either Bluetooth or infra-red, meaning you should - in theory - be able to take your 3D goggles to a friends place to catch a flick in full 3D, regardless of what brand of 3D TV they own.
