By James Wells at CES

LAS VEGAS: The introduction of the 3D television has brought with it a secondary category in the sale of glasses which is expected to be profitable for consumer electronics suppliers and retailers – but will consumers BYO to the 3D cinema?

There are two main types of 3D glasses – battery-powered active shutter glasses which turn on and off and are likely to be sold mainly by the companies that make the televisions to consumers for a retail price of approximately $100.



The second type of glasses are polarised or passive glasses that are traditionally used within movie theatres and are commonly used with viewing 3D on most laptop applications.

Microvision Optical 3D were once of many companies exhibiting a range of glasses at CES that offer a lot of fashionable frames sold by sunglasses manufacturers.

According to Microvision’s David Johnson, the wholesale price of the glasses is expected to be between $US15-$US18 which will see a retail price between $US30-$US40.

Johnson expects many consumers to ‘bring their own’ glasses when attending 3D at the cinema or watching 3D at other people’s houses.