3D TV price gouge: $215 for glasses alone

SAM BAKER/The Manawatu Standard

KA-CHING: A family of four can expect to pay about NZ$860 for glasses to watch 3D TV.

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TV makers are gearing up to launch 3D TV sets in New Zealand this year but overseas pricing reveals a steep price premium over existing models, with a family of four required to spend US$600 (NZ$860) on glasses alone.

TV manufacturer Samsung has unveiled plans to launch a 3D television in New Zealand in the second quarter of the year, hot on the heels of the 3D box-office hit Avatar and Alice in Wonderland.

Overseas pricing, announced this week, reveals the TV sets alone will cost several hundred dollars more than equivalent existing sets.

But it's not just your TV you will need to upgrade - a new 3D-ready Blu-ray player is required (unless you own a PlayStation 3), as well as a new HDMI cable and pairs of 3D glasses.

Unlike TV stations in the US, New Zealand's TV stations do not appear to be gearing up to offer any 3D broadcasts, but movies on 3D Blu-ray discs will start hitting the market alongside the new TV sets and game developers have flagged significant investments in true 3D games.

Samsung's US$400 3D TV price premium

Samsung this week unveiled US pricing for its broad 3D TV lineup, which includes LED-backlit LCD models, regular LCD models and plasma sets. The 40-inch, 46-inch and 55-inch versions of the LED C7000 model retail for US$2000 (NZ$2866), US$2600 (NZ$3726) and US$3300 (NZ$4730) respectively.

The cheapest model is a 46-inch set in its low-end LCD 750 line, which will sell for US$1700. The flagship 55-inch UN55C9000, which can automatically convert 2D content to 3D, will sell for US$7000 (NZ$10,000).

On top of that price, in order to experience 3D users will have to pay US$150 (NZ$215) for each pair of 3D glasses and US$400 (NZ$570) for a new 3D-ready Blu-ray player.

More costs are added once consumers start buying 3D Blu-ray movies to play on their shiny new equipment, while 3D glasses from one brand will not work on TVs made by another brand.

The prices of the 3DTVs are several hundred dollars more than the equivalent existing TV range. For instance, the 46-inch 3DTV version of the LED C7000 is US$400 more expensive than the list price of the 46-inch B7000 model.

CNET's TV reviewer, David Katzmaier, noted the 46-inch LED C7000 was selling on Amazon at a discounted price of US$2350.

"That's a $350 premium compared to Amazon's price for Samsung's closest 2009 non-3D equivalent, the UNB7000 series, while the company's closest 2010 non-3D equivalent, the UNC6500 series, is listed at about $250 less," he wrote.

Panasonic has announced more aggressive prices for the US market, with a Best Buy deal offering a 50-inch 3DTV, 3D-ready Blu-ray player and pair of glasses for US$3000.

Sony customers slugged 50 per cent extra

Sony, meanwhile, this week announced 3DTV prices for Japan, with a 46-inch set selling for US$3898 (NZ$5587), which the BBC reported was 52 per cent more expensive than a regular Sony flatscreen television. Its 3D TV prices range from US$2444 to US$6444.

The more expensive Sony 3DTV models include two pairs of glasses but cheaper models are 3D-optional, and can only show 3D content after additional accessories, including glasses (around US$133 each) and a 3D transmitter, are bought.

Kogan's not convinced

But not all TV makers are gung-ho about 3D. Ruslan Kogan, founder of Australia's Kogan Technologies, an online retailer of low-cost Kogan-branded TVs, said the consumer electronics industry needed to stop looking to 3DTV as a solution to falling profit margins.

"Can you really imagine sitting around with a bunch of mates, drinking beer and watching the footy, all wearing clunky 3D headsets or glasses? Let alone sitting on a couch with a partner, leaning in for the clichéd kiss, and locking headsets instead of lips!," he said.

Kogan said the future of TVs was not 3D but internet-enabled sets that enable people to "watch streamed content on demand, make skype calls, and access the internet through their TVs".

- With Dominion Post

- © Fairfax NZ News