If there's one element that is rather primitive in the beginning era of 3D television, it's the glasses that viewers have to wear. They're big, awkward, and consumers are not yet used to wearing glasses at home when watching TV. The problem grows as manufacturers are offering a variety of spectacles, incompatible with each other, not to mention their rather high price.

3D television is already at the door step to massively enter living rooms. Samsung, LG, Panasonic, and Sony are already selling 3D televisions, and other manufacturers will come up with more sets later . Movies are being made, 3D channels launched and cable networks upgraded.

3D may not be quite as revolutionary as TFT or plazma and high-definition TV, but manufacturers are hoping that 3D will eventually help sell more sets.

The problem with glasses is that the cheap, polarized spectacles handed out at movie theaters won't work at home. New 3D televisions require hi-end "active-shutter" glasses. The effect sometimes is even better than you'll get in theaters with the polarized glasses.

TV makers cannot afford to offer expensive models for the U.S. market, where sales are particularly sensitive to price. That is why they are trying to shift price margin into the active-shutter glasses, which is less risky for the TV manufacturer.

To achieve a 3D effect in the glasses, the specs have to electronically synchronize with the TV set. The 3D screens rapidly show alternating images for the left and right eye. The glasses open and close shutters over each eye so that each sees only the image intended for it, which is from a slightly different perspective. This is what gives us an illusion of stereoscopic or three-dimensional vision.

Most manufacturers are bundling one set of glasses with their 3D TVs. But outfitting a living room for movie watching can add another $450.

Consumers will have an option to watch non-3D TV but if they want to use their sets for 3D, they will need the right glasses. TV manufacturers are exploring different approaches that are incompatible with each other. A pair of glasses that works with Samsung won't work with Panasonic.

There are several ways that TV sets communicate to 3D glasses. Projectors typically use a flash of white light that bounces off the screen into the glasses. A few manufacturers link their LCDs with the glasses via radio technology, like Bluetooth. Most LCD and plasma makers are using infrared signals. But even they are incompatible, much as infrared remote controls won't work with different makes of TVs. Manufacturers also use different protocols, or software, to ensure fidelity and timing.

One solution may be universal glasses that will work across manufacturer lines, much like universal remotes can work with different sets.

A standard technology is expected to soon emerge and manufacturers will begin supplying universal eyewear with their sets. However there is trap that the big makers (Sony, Samsung, Panasonic) have got into: they didn't really have time to figure out the glasses in the rush to hit the market with 3D sets.

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