Digital TV News

3D TV sets now available in UK

Thursday 22 April, 2010

By Becca Talbot - becca@consumerchoices.co.uk

Want to watch 3D films such as box office hits Avatar and Alice in Wonderland in your own home? Head to John Lewis and bag yourself a 40in Samsung 3D TV set for just £1,800.

The UK’s first 3D TV sets have gone on sale today in certain branches of John Lewis, letting Brits enjoy the cinematic experience of 3D TV in their living rooms for the first time.

The Samsung UE40C7000 set, which will set you back £1,800 and requires Samsung 3D glasses to watch, “It brings the 3D experience to your living room,” retailer John Lewis said in a statement. It added: “Its explosive full HD 3D imagery simply bursts from the screen to put you in the action.”

The glasses are necessary to watch 3D and cost an extra £150 for two pairs, however if you also buy the Samsung BD-C6900 3D ready Blu-ray Disc Player from John Lewis for £350, you’ll get two pairs of the glasses free.

Smash-hit 3D kids film Monsters vs Aliens comes preloaded on the TV, giving all customers a taste of the 3D TV entertainment to come.

The LED TV, which is fully HD ready as well as 3D ready, is less than 3cm thick, and has an integrated Freeview HD receiver - letting viewers watch the subscription-free high-definition channels available in their area - and is also web-enabled so users access online TV content.

Although the sets are only on sale in John Lewis at the moment, they will be available in Curry’s and Comet in the next week.

Media consultancy Screen Digest told the Independent that it estimates 185,000 3D TV sets will be sold in the UK this year, with the number of sets rising to 7 million by 2015. Consultant Dan Simmons said investing £2,000 in a 3D TV set would probably be better than buying a £1,500 HD TV.

He said: “If you are a person who would buy a high-end TV then definitely a 3D TV would be a good option, but if you are someone who spends a few hundred pounds on a TV then you are probably going to wait a couple of years until prices come down.”

Satellite TV giant Sky has already confirmed that its 3D TV channel, which is currently broadcasting selected Premier League football matches in 3D in over 1,000 pubs and clubs around the country, will be available in Sky+HD homes by the end of the year.