3D TVs to Get Cheaper as Westinghouse Enters the Fray

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Budget television maker Westinghouse will do its part to drive down the cost of 3D at home with its first 3D TV.

The 47-inch LCD set, known only by its model number of W47S2TCD, has a passive 3D display and includes four pairs of glasses. Resolution is 1080p, and other perks include 3D noise reduction and inverse 3:2 pulldown for films. On the downside, Westinghouse 3D TV buyers won’t get the web connectivity that high-end 3D TVs typically offer.

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The price? It’s $1,119 suggested retail, but you can expect stores like Best Buy, Costco and Target to shave down the cost by a Benjamin or two, as they often do with televisions.

That’s still a few hundred dollars more than comparable 2D TVs — Westinghouse sells a 46-inch LED TV for $800 — but it might make other 3D TV makers sweat. On Best Buy’s website, most TV makers have list prices of $1,600 or more for 46-inch to 47-inch 3D sets, with sale prices no lower than $1,330. Westinghouse may undercut them by at least a couple hundred bucks, although the competition may lower their own prices by the time Westinghouse’s TV launches in the fourth quarter of this year.

Meanwhile, Vizio is also bringing 3D to bargain hunters, with a 42-inch passive 3D TV that sells for under $700 on Amazon. And Sony, whose televisions typically hover around the high-end of the price spectrum, is targeting college-goers with a 24-inch PlayStation-branded 3D TV for $499. On the glasses front, Samsung recently reduced the price of its basic 3D specs to $50 per pair, readying itself for battle with the cheap passive glasses of Westinghouse and Vizio.

3D TV needs to get cheaper, because consumers weren’t biting on the exorbitant pricing of 2010. With Westinghouse prepping its 3D TV for the holidays, we’ll see if 3D sales can finally live up to the hype.

MORE: 3D TV Overshadowed By Connected TV This Year