What’s holding 3D TV back?

3D TV is being pushed hard by television manufacturers, and while pick-up has been better than expected, it’s still not something the mass audience is clamoring for. Why not?  

A new study by Nielsen offers some insight – but you can probably guess the two biggest culprits. The survey finds that the high costs of the sets and being forced to wear 3D glasses are the two key reasons people aren’t rushing out to buy the sets. The news gets worse for manufacturers, though.

Nielsen found that the number of people who initially were inclined to buy a 3D TV actually dropped by more than 50 percent once they were shown a sample of video from the sets. And the number of people saying they had no interest more than doubled after watching a sample.

Scarcity of 3D programming was the other prominent reason people gave for not having interest.

On the upside, nearly half of the people surveyed said they would likely watch programs they would otherwise skip if they had a 3D set – and 71 percent of regular gamers said they’d like to experience video games in 3D.