Panasonic and Best Buy tout 3D TV

Panasonic has embarked on a new campaign to promote its 3D television sets in Best Buy stores across the United States.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Panasonic plans to showcase “special” 3D displays and discount the prices of certain models by up to 50 percent.

“[Panasonic] hopes to revive demand for its plasma displays with its 3-D models. Plasma, which is better suited for 3-D due to its faster response, has lost ground in recent years to the more popular liquid crystal displays,” wrote Daisuke Wakabayashi of the WSJ.

Wakabayashi explained that Panasonic hoped to sell 1 million 3D televisions during the fiscal year ending March 31, 2011 – with its 50-inch 3-D model expected to retail for about $2,500 in the US.

“[And] unlike past 3-D technology, which used color filters to create the 3-D effect, the latest models use battery-operated glasses that open and shutter rapidly to allow for high-definition 3-D images,” added Wakabayashi.

As TG Daily previously reported, 3D gaming is expected to rapidly accelerate over the next few years, with studios poised to release up to 50 stereoscopic 3D (enabled) console titles by 2011. 

Indeed, Insight Media analyst Dale Manunu has predicted that console gamers will enjoy a “fairly consistent” 3D experience regardless of which 3D compatible TV they use.

“That’s one benefit of a closed system like what the console makers use,” explained Manunu. “That’s how they maintain a consistent user experience.”