HDTV News

This past week, the first two 3D HDTVs have become commercially available: the Samsung UN55C7000 and the Panasonic TC-P50VT20.

As you'll soon see in our full review, the Samsung UN55C7000 doesn't come bundled with a pair of 3D glasses. They also aren't available for sale yet. And there's no news on when they will be available.

Nothing really says 'buyer's remorse' like dropping over $3000 on the 'World's First-Available 3D LED TV' (according to Samsung's press release), only to find there's actually no way to watch its 3D content, at all, for the foreseeable future. 

Fortunately for all you other early adopters out there, we've discovered a workaround and broken it down into six easy, mandatory steps.

1. Buy the Panasonic TC-P50VT20

The Panasonic TC-P50VT20 comes bundled with its own pair of glasses and a DMP-BDT300 3D Blu-Ray player. This will not only give you a means of playing back native 3D content, but also a means of viewing it as well. Also, now you own two 3D HDTVs. That's awesome.

2. Put the two TVs side by side.

Just plop your Panasonic next to your Samsung, and tilt them towards each other if possible. The reason for doing this is because the TV sends a limited range sync signal to the glasses; if you look away from the screen for even a few seconds, the glasses turn off.

 

3. Buy an HDMI amplifier box.

You'll need the amplifier box in order to send 3D footage to both TVs. You could bypass this step if you happened to purchase two 3D Blu-Ray players when you were at Best Buy. We are assuming you didn't. Rest assured: this is the last purchase you'll need to make in order to make this hack work. If you haven't been rendered financially destitute at this point, you're in the clear.

 

4. Swap the left and right channels.

This is the tricky part. See, the signal that a 3D TV sends to the glasses is proprietary, so the Panasonic glasses shouldn't work with the Samsung TV. Fortunately, there's proprietary and then there's 'proprietary,' and fortunately for everyone, this isn't so much a compatability issue as it is a 'buy our glasses, not theirs' issue.

Once you have an identical feed going to both TVs, stand right in between the two. You want to be able to see the Samsung screen while you're still within line of sight with the Panasonic. At this point, the 3D effect on the Panasonic will look great, but the Samsung screen will look... off. The picture won't be terrible, but won't be perfectly in sync either: about half the objects will have ghostly double lines. Now pick up the Panasonic remote control and go into the menu settings for 3D. Change the 'Left/Right Swap' from Normal to Swapped.

5. Brag to your friends that you've 'hacked' your Samsung 3D TV.

If everything's set up correctly, the Panasonic display should look a little out of sync, but the Samsung 3D effect should look great.

Congratulations! You've accomplished something today; don't let your friends tell you otherwise. Today you have stood defiant, a true testament to the interminable nature of the human spirit, and engineered a way to use your TV for its intended purpose. it just goes to show, if you have the time, the money, and the inclination, you can buy your way out of the ridiculous dilemma Samsung created by releasing a product before it was ready.

Note: a bonus side-effect of this hack is the ability to watch two 3D TVs simultaneously. We're pretty sure that's the same thing as watching one 6D TV, which basically means you're from the future now. You're welcome.

6. Read our full reviews of both the Samsung UN55C7000 and the Panasonic TC-P50VT20.

Seriously, after all we've done for you, you owe us this much. Besides, we're the first source to provide a full, lab-tested review of either of these pioneers of 3D, with the added benefit of actually having both TVs side-by-side for a direct comparison of their performances. You'd be hard-pressed to find a more scientific, objective breakdown of either TV, but you already know this: you're from the future.

Full, lab-tested review of the new Panasonic TC-P50VT20.

Full, lab-tested review of the new Samsung UN55C7000.