Although there are a few things standing in the way of massive 3D TV adoption (the need for glasses being a big one), there's one factor that Korean electronics manufacturer Samsung is taking out of the equation: price. If you're itching to bring home the high quality, high definition 3D experience, you'll be happy to hear that Samsung has just broken down the price barrier with the first flat panel 3D TV available for under $1000.
Samsung's PN50C490, which Samsung tells us will begin shipping this month, is a 50-inch plasma HDTV with support for the new 3D source components such as Blu-ray 3D players and DIRECTV's 3D-enabled set-top box. Technically its list price is $1099, but you can get it in stores and online for under $1000. On Amazon, for example, it's currently selling for $989 with free shipping.
For this price, you can't expect all the bells and whistles. The set's native resolution is a bit better than 720p (1366x768 pixels) which means it can't quite reproduce the full 1920x1080 pixels of a full HD 1080p source. But it does scale 1080p sources to match its native resolution and presents a high quality, detailed image from such sources. It also lacks any of the advanced IPTV features (internet streaming) which are available in Samsung's more costly models. But did we mention that it's less than $1,000?
If you want to complete the 3D picture, Samsung is not offering much help in this department. The free 3D Starter Kit that Samsung offers with its more expensive 3D TVs is not available free with this TV, but any of the current Blu-ray 3D players should be compatible, including the upcoming Blu-ray 3D update for the PS3, and if you're a DIRECTV or FIOS customer, your existing set-top box may already be 3D-enabled, making it a perfect complement to this budget beauty. Active shutter 3D Glasses are sold separately.
The TV should make for some fine 2D viewing as well, with the traditional advantages of plasma over LCD TVs: better contrast (2,000,000:1 rating), better color saturation, as well as fine reproduction of fast motion. The set features 3 HDMI inputs and a PC input (VGA/DB15) for those who want to hook up a home theater PC or laptop. It also features built-in QAM, ATSC and NTSC tuners in case you'd like to pull in your HDTV channels for free.
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