Mitsubishi is showing its 82-inch 3D-Ready Home Theater TV at Linder’s Furniture in Rancho Cucamonga, California. It’s the largest mass-production 3D set that has been announced. It supports 1080p and uses a DLP display, and its screen size is four times larger than a 42-inch set.
“3D represents the highest level and most advanced form of home entertainment available today, and we expect consumers will embrace this special, event-based experience,” said Frank DeMartin, VP of marketing for Mitsubishi Digital Electronics America. He said Mitsubishi leads the way in offering “an affordable line-up of 3D-Ready TVs in very large 60-, 65-, 73-, and 82-inch screen sizes.”
DeMartin did not say when the 82-inch model would be widely available or what the retail price will be – probably upward of $4,700. The 60-inch model will reportedly go for $1,899. Mitsubishi has also started offering XpanD 3D glasses for $129 that turn TV sets it sold during the past two years into 3D sets if the sets are marked “3D-ready.”
It says its sets use the same core technology that is used in the vast majority of 3D movie theaters. But the company warns about a too-little discussed downside to 3D TV sets: “In order to display 3D images, Mitsubishi 3D-Ready Home Theater TVs require source devices to support checkerboard display formats for display of 3D gaming or 3D cinema content. A 3D standard may emerge that is not compatible with Mitsubishi 3D-Ready Home Theater TVs.” Mitsubishi likes selling big TVs. It sold the largest tube (cathode ray) TV ever made for consumers back in the ’90s.