Overall Findings
Choosing between passive polarized and active shutter mostly comes down to how much you’re willing to spend. Passive polarized glasses are fairly low-tech; they look and feel like cheap sunglasses and don’t require a power source. Active shutter glasses are pricier and more high-tech, requiring batteries and a transmitter that syncs with on-screen refresh rates. Still, they provide a crisper, higher-resolution image.
Image Quality: Active Shutters Win Out
Active shutter glasses provide a crisper, higher-resolution image. They accomplish this by rapidly alternating the view from each eye through the use of shutters. Instead of compromising the resolution by relegating whole pixel lines to one of two eyes, active shutter glasses sync with the display’s refresh rate to alternate exposure of the full resolution to each eye. The downside is that the image comes across as dimmer and may have a subtle flickering appearance.
Bang For Your Buck: Save Money With Passive Polarized Glasses
Passive glasses are cheap, often ranging from $5 to $25 for a pair. There are some differences in style that may affect the price, such as material and flexibility. Active shutter glasses cost anywhere from $50 to $150, due to the sophisticated tech and power sources needed to operate them. Whether or not the added price is also worth a bulkier system is up to the buyer.
Compatibility: It Depends on the System
3D televisions have been out of production for several years now, but many are still sold after-market. The TV model determines which type of glasses will need to be used. When 3D display tech was first introduced, Mitsubishi, Panasonic, Samsung, and Sharp adopted active shutter glasses for LCD, Plasma, and DLP TVs. (Plasma and DLP TVs have since been discontinued.) LG and Vizio adopted polarized glasses for their LCD TVs. Although Toshiba and Vizio mostly used polarized glasses, some of their LCD TVs required active shutter. Sony mostly used active shutter but offered some TVs with polarized glasses as well. Active shutter glasses used for one brand of TV or video projector may not work with a 3D-TV or video projector from another brand. This means, for example, if you have a Samsung TV, your Samsung 3D glasses will not work on a Panasonic TV.
Is 3D Possible Without Glasses?
Some technologies allow 3D viewing without glasses, but you need a special type of TV or video display. These are referred to as AutoStereoscopic Displays.
Final Verdict: Passive Polarized Glasses Are Fine for Most People—Unless You Own a Projector
If you’re on a budget and want to enjoy 3D content, passive polarized glasses are perfectly fine. These goggles are low-tech, affordable, and don’t require a power source, making them compatible with most systems. If you have a projector or plasma screen TV, use active shutter glasses. These deliver superior image resolution, but are pricier, more expensive, and require more compatible display tech—details that most people may want to avoid.
