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The Illustrated 3D Glasses List This page lists 3D Glasses that are used to view high-quality 3D images on matching 3D displays. This list is a supplement to The Illustrated 3D Movie List. In most cases the 3D glasses from a particular manufacturer can only be used with 3D displays from the same manufacturer - please do your homework. The following White Paper discusses the similarities and differences between ten different 3D Sync IR protocols: "A Survey of 3D Sync IR Protocols" Please note that I don't sell these 3D products. The buy links will take you to various commercial providers, including Amazon. Andrew Woods News:   - 3D Movie List is on Twitter!   Follow our 3D updates here: http://twitter.com/3DMovieList   Tweets by 3DMovieList

Active Shutter Glasses   Product Image Make and Model Recharg-able Compatibility buy bundles / comments Samsung 3DTV IR Sync Samsung 2011+ 3DTV Bluetooth Sync Panasonic 3DTV IR Sync Sony 3DTV IR Sync LG 3DTV IR Sync LG 2011+ active 3DTV RF Sync Toshiba 3DTV IR Sync Sharp 3DTV IR Sync Vizio active 3DTV IR Sync NVIDIA 3D VISION IR Sync DLP-Link Optical Sync other Universal active shutter glasses (NB: "Universal" glasses don't necessarily support all protocols) XpanD Youniversal X104 Y Y Y*3 Y Y Y N Y Y/N*1 N Y N XpanD IR Sync usa *3: Optional RF dongle required for Bluetooth compatibility. Sony PlayStation 3D glasses Y Y N Y Y N N Y Y? N N N usa   XpanD X103 N Y N Y Y Y N Y Y/N*1 N N N XpanD IR Sync usa   3DTV Corp Model JP1 Y N N N Y N N Y Y? N N N   usa untested/unconfirmed. Have you tested? Coming soon: Universal shutter glasses from RealD, and "Youniversal" shutter glasses from XPAND. Manufacturer original active shutter glasses Samsung SSG-3700CR Y N Y N N N N N N N N N   usa Samsung SSG-3300GR Y N Y N N N N N N N N N   usa Samsung SSG-3300CR Y N Y N N N N N N N N N   usa Samsung SSG-3100GB N N Y N N N N N N N N N   usa Megamind starter kit Samsung SSG-3050GB N N Y N N N N N N N N N   usa uk   Samsung SSG-2200AR Y Y N N N N N N N N N N   usa uk   Samsung SSG-2200KR Kids size Y Y N N N N N N N N N N     Samsung SSG-2100AB N Y N N N N N N N N N N   usa uk MvA starter kit   Dragon starter kit   Shrek starter kit Panasonic TY-EW3D10U N N N Y N N N N N N N N   Coraline starter kit Panasonic TY-EW3D2LU Large size Y N N Y N N N N N N N N   AVATAR starter kit Panasonic TY-EW3D2MU Medium size Y N N Y N N N N N N N N   Panasonic TY-EW3D2SU Small size Y N N Y N N N N N N N N   Sony TDG-PJ1 Y N N N Y? N N N N N N N   Compatible with Sony HW30ES and VW90ES projectors Sony TDG-BR250 Y N N N Y N N N N N N N   Narnia starter kit Sony TDG-BR100 N N N N Y N N N N N N N   Alice starter kit Sony TDG-BR50 Youth size N N N N Y N N N N N N N     LG AG-S100 N N N N N Y N N N N N N     LG AG-S110 N N N N N Y N N N N N N     LG AG-S250 Y N N N N N Y** N N N N N   **NB: NOT compatible with any TVs from LG's 2010 model line. Do you know why? Toshiba FPT-AG01U N N N N N N N Y N N N N   Same sync as 'Panasonic IR Sync'? Do you know? Sharp AN3DG10R N N N N N N N N Y N N N     VIZIO VSG102 N N N N N N N N N Y N N     NVIDIA 3D VISION 2 N N N N N N N N N N Y N   usa   NVIDIA 3D VISION N N N N N N N N N N Y N   usa uk   Mitsubishi EY-3DGS-1U N N N ? N N N N N N N N Mitsubishi IR Sync Coming Soon Emitter: EY-3D-EMT1. Same sync as 'Panasonic IR Sync'? Do you know? Optoma BG-3DRFGLASSES N N N N N N N N N N N N ZigBee RF Sync   DLP-LinkTM active shutter glasses ViewSonic PGD-250 N N N N N N N N N N N Y     Optoma BG-Z101 N N N N N N N N N N N Y   NB: non-foldable arms ViewSonic PGD-150 N N N N N N N N N N N Y   NB: non-foldable arms NEC NP01GL N N N N N N N N N N N Y   NB: non-foldable arms BenQ PRJ N N N N N N N N N N N Y   NB: non-foldable arms XPAND X102 N N N N N N N N N N N Y     Third-party active shutter glasses NXG NX-3DG N Y N N N N N N N N N N usa   Product Image Make and Model Recharg-able Compatibility buy bundles / comments Samsung 3DTV IR Sync Samsung 2011+ 3DTV Bluetooth Sync Panasonic 3DTV IR Sync Sony 3DTV IR Sync LG 3DTV IR Sync LG 2011+ 3DTV RF Sync Toshiba 3DTV IR Sync Sharp 3DTV IR Sync Vizio 3DTV IR Sync NVIDIA 3D VISION IR Sync DLP-Link Optical Sync other

Passive 3D Glasses   Product Image Make and Model Details linear axis orientation *2 buy comments Circularly polarised 3D glasses for 3D Cinema RealD 3D cinema glasses circular 0°/0°   *2 usa   Linearly polarised 3D glasses for 3D Cinema IMAX 3D cinema glasses linear 0°/90° Most IMAX theatres use linear polarised glasses with 0°/90° linear orientation, but there are some variations in style of glasses and 3D technique from theatre to theatre. Theme Park 3D cinema glasses linear +45°/-45°   *3 Many theme parks (e.g. Disney, Universal) use linear polarised 3D glasses with +45°/-45° linear orientation, but there are considerable variations in glasses styles - and some theme parks use other 3D methods. Designer Circularly polarised 3D glasses for 3D Cinema GUNNAR Premium 3D Eyewear (RealD Compatible) Midnight Onyx Frame circular 0°/0°   *2 usa   GUNNAR Premium 3D Eyewear (RealD Compatible) Gliff Onyx Frame circular 0°/0°   *2 usa   GUNNAR Premium 3D Eyewear (RealD Compatible) Phenom Graphite Frame circular 0°/0°   *2 usa   Polaroid PDN8103A RealD 3D cinema glasses circular 0°/0°   *2 usa   Polaroid PDN8102A RealD 3D cinema glasses circular 0°/0°   *2 usa   Circularly polarised 3D glasses for 3D HDTVs and 3D Monitors LG AG-F200 3D cinema glasses circular 0°/0°   *2 usa   LG FPG-200F Cinema 3D glasses circular 0°/0°   *2   BEWARE: LG used the same model number for different sets of circular 3D glasses - Naughty Naughty! One is for their 3DHDTVs (with 0/0 orientation) and another for their 3D monitors (with 135/135 orientation). See Note *2. The only way to tell the difference is to look for the text "Cinema 3D" vs "3D Monitor" written on the box and the glasses wings. See: More info and larger picture. LG FPG-200F 3D Monitor glasses circular 135°/135°   *2   Panasonic VIERA TY-EP3D10UB Passive Polarized 3D Eyewear circular Do you know? usa   Vizio XPG202 3D HDTV glasses circular 0°/0°   *2 usa   Zalman ZM-SG100G Polarized Stereoscopic 3D Glasses circular 135°/135°   *2 usa Please Note: These glasses use the 135/135 orientation *2 to provide optimum 3D performance on Zalman 3D monitors. RealD format glasses will not provide optimum performance on Zalman 3D monitors. Special Release Customised 3D Movie Style RealD Circular Polarised 3D Glasses Transformers RealD 3D CineMask - Bumblebee circular 0°/0°   *2 usa   Transformers RealD 3D CineMask - Optimus Prime circular 0°/0°   *2 usa   Avengers RealD 3D glasses (Iron Man) circular 0°/0°   *2     Avengers RealD 3D glasses (Hulk) circular 0°/0°   *2     Avengers RealD 3D glasses (Captain America) circular 0°/0°   *2     Avengers RealD 3D glasses (Thor) circular 0°/0°   *2     Oakley TINTIN RealD 3D glasses circular 0°/0°   *2     Oakley Transformers RealD 3D glasses circular 0°/0°   *2 usa   Harry Potter RealD 3D glasses circular 0°/0°   *2 usa   Star Wars Anakin Skywalker RealD 3D glasses circular 0°/0°   *2 usa   Star Wars Episode I RealD 3D glasses circular 0°/0°   *2     Beauty and the Beast RealD 3D glasses circular 0°/0°   *2     Captain America RealD 3D glasses circular 0°/0°   *2     Interference Filter 3D glasses Dolby 3D cinema glasses interference filter wavelength division multiplexed n/a

A study of 10 different active shutter glasses signalling protocols was recently completed by Curtin University. The white paper is available here: A Survey of 3D Sync IR Protocols. If you have further information to contribute, please let us know.

If you know of any other 3D glasses that have been missed from this list, please drop us a line.

Notes:

*1: Although the X103 and X104 glasses do lock to the Sharp 3D Sync IR protocol, their timing (phase) is incorrect by approximately 1ms. This 1ms timing error is very noticable with the Sharp XV-Z17000 3D DLP projector (the colour accuracy of the image is affected giving a notable magenta tint, and greyscales are sometimes solarised. We therefore do not recommend the use of these glasses with the Sharp XV-Z17000 3D projector. We are told that the timing error does not produce any noticable visual effect when the glasses are used to view the Sharp 3D HDTVs, although we have not tested this ourselves. This timing error does not affect any of the any other protocols. We hope that a future firmware upgrade of the X103 glasses will correct this timing error. Xpand have promised a firmware update for the X104 glasses to address this issue and we'll be glad to update this page when that occurs.

*2: Not all circularly polarised 3D glasses are the same.
To understand the difference, it's first necessary to understand the construction of a circular polariser.
Circular polarisers are constructed using two layers - firstly a linear polariser and secondly a quarter wave retarder. The retarding axis of the quarter wave retarder is oriented either 45° or -45° to the orientation of the linear polariser in order to create/decode the left-handed or right-handed orientations of circular polarisation. You might think that a circular polariser can be rotated at any angle since it is a circular polariser, however even though the optical properties are fairly good at all angles, you will notice some colour changes (and a drop in extinction) when you rotate a circular polariser as compared to another circular polariser. The way this is usually explained is that a circular polariser is not perfectly circular, but slightly eliptical. The best performance (in terms of colour accuracy and maximum extinction) is when the linear polariser axis of the circular polariser in the glasses matches the linear polarisation axis of the circular polariser in the display or projector. All RealD theatres output circular polarisation with the orientation of the linear axis 0° (i.e. horizontal) in both eyes. Some 3DTVs output circular polarisation using this same convention, but some computer monitors use a different linear axis orientation and therefore RealD glasses do not provide optimal performance if used with these displays (e.g. some LG passive 3D monitors, Zalman ZM-M190 & ZM-M220W, Hyundai W220S & W240S and Miracube G240M).
If you view a passive 3D Monitor or HDTV with the wrongly circular passive 3D glasses, the 3D image will likely have more crosstalk (ghosting) than normal, and the image may have a strange colour cast (perhaps a purple-ish colour).

*3: +45°/-45° is equivalent to 45°/135°.

FAQs:

Can I use my Panasonic 3D glasses with my friend's Sony 3DTV?
Unfortunately No... Different brands of active shutter glasses and 3DTVs use different signaling protocols.

What signaling protocols do these glasses use?
The following document summarises a selection of different protocols: "A Survey of 3D Sync IR Protocols". There are a few protocols not covered in this document.

What 3D glasses should I buy?
You'll need to buy the 3D glasses that are compatible with your TV.
If your TV uses the active 3D method (frame-sequential 3D), a pair of universal glasses would be a sensible buy (but make sure they work with your TV). see list
If your TV uses the passive 3D method, most passive 3D monitors and HDTVs follow the RealD circular polarised format (0/0 rear polariser axis), but there are some notable exceptions.

What are LCD shutter glasses?
This term is often used to refer to active shutter glasses (also known at shutter glasses, Liquid Crystal Shutter glasses, and LCS 3D glasses). The 'LCD shutter glasses' is actually an incorrectly used term. LCD is short for Liquid Crystal Display, and it is important to point out that shutter glasses are not Displays themselves - they are looked through to see an actual HDTV display. Shutter glasses almost exclusively use Liquid Crystal for the shutters, so the "LC" is correct, but there is no Display in the glasses, so the "D" is incorrect. A more correct term is LCS 3D glasses (short for "Liquid Crystal Shutter") but a more common term these days is "Active Shutter Glasses" or just "Shutter Glasses".

I brought home some 3D glasses from a 3D cinema, can I use them with my home TV to see 3D?
Yes and no - it depends...
If you brought home a pair of RealD 3D glasses, _and_ you have a HDTV which specifically supports passive circularly-polarised 3D technology (such as the LG, Vizio, Westinghouse 3D models - see list) the answer will be Yes.
BUT... otherwise the answer will be No. Your TV must specifically support a 3D display technology _and_ the 3D glasses that you brought home must support the same 3D technique.