3D Glasses for a Samsung, LG or Sony 3D TV: Which Ones Fit

An active pair from Samsung, with its power button above the bridge. Photo: Jiří Sedláček, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How to find out which glasses your TV takes

1. Open the 3D chapter of the TV's manual. It names the type and usually a model. Sony's guide: "There are two types of 3D Glasses: Passive and Active. Refer to the specifications in the Reference Guide to see which type of 3D Glasses the TV supports." It then names a pair for each: TDG-500P for passive sets, TDG-BT500A for active ones [2].
2. If it is active, find the signal. Samsung lists its 2010 pair, the SSG-2100AB, as "Infrared", and every pair from 2011 to 2013 as "Bluetooth" [1]. Sony's 2012 manual has a "3D Sync Transmitter" that an infrared device near the TV can interrupt [3]; its 2014 manual has glasses you register to the TV [9]. Panasonic's VT60 manual says: "Use Panasonic 3D Eyewear supporting Bluetooth wireless technology." [5]
3. No manual? Look the model up. Each brand's years, 3D type and glasses models are in which TVs have 3D, by brand. Panasonic still has a chart online that pairs every 3D model with its eyewear model [6].

A pair that came with the set also tells you. Samsung's SSG-5150GB has a power button and a battery cover [7]; LG calls its passive ones "battery-free" [4].

Are the makers' own glasses still sold?

For LG, the page says no. LG's US 3D glasses page shows a filter named "DISCONTINUED PRODUCTS" and "0 Total Results" [4]. Its page for the AG-S350, the Bluetooth shutter pair for LG plasma 3D sets, is marked "DISCONTINUED" [8].

Last checked October 11, 2026: LG's US pages.

Where a maker has stopped, an original pair is a used one or old stock, and age matters. One Panasonic owner on Blu-ray Forum, June 2019, about buying original pairs second-hand: "they are all so old that if the batteries have not been kept charged, it is very likely that they will not take a charge at all" [16]. That is one person's experience; we have not tested it.

Will another brand's glasses, or an older pair, work?

For active sets, the makers' own documents tie each pair to one signal and to named TV series.

• Infrared pairs on a Bluetooth set. Samsung's page for its 2015 JS9000 says: "IR-type Samsung 3D Active Glasses and third-party 3D glasses are not supported." [10]
• Older and newer pairs of one brand. Samsung's guide for the SSG-5150GB says the pair is "only compatible with Samsung D, E, ES, F, FH, H, HU, J, JU and JS series 3D TV's that were released in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015" [7]. Samsung lists its infrared 2010 pair, the SSG-2100AB, for C-series 3D TVs [1].
• A cross-brand logo: Full HD 3D Glasses. A trade report of August 8, 2011 said Panasonic, Sony, Samsung and XpanD had announced their intent to develop a joint standard for active 3D glasses, and added: "Universal glasses with the new IR/RF protocols will be available in 2012, and are targeted to be backward-compatible with 2011 active 3DTVs." [11] Samsung's guide for the SSG-5100GB says the pair works with Samsung D, E and F series sets "or with 3D TVs that have any of the logos below", and that the logo "signifies compatibility between display products and 3D Glasses" made to that format [12]. Neither names the TVs that carry the logo.

For passive sets, the makers below describe no pairing step. Sony says of its passive pair, "You can watch in 3D by just putting the Passive 3D Glasses on" [2]. LG describes its glasses as "Just like the ones you get at the movie theater" [4], and Vizio said in 2011 that its Theater 3D eyewear "can even be used for 3D viewing in most local movie theaters" [13]. One maker of polarized glasses sells a pair titled for "RealD Theatres & LG, Vizio & Toshiba Passive 3D TV's" [14]. Those are the makers' statements; we have not tested them. Why the two kinds cannot swap is in types of 3D glasses.

Third-party glasses: what makers claim, what owners report

What a maker claims. XPAND, one of the four companies in that 2011 report, lists ten active models on its site, in groups named DLP, IR and RF [15]. Read on October 11, 2026, its page says the X105 RF pair is "compatible with any 3D device bearing the logo of Full HD 3D and equipped with internal or external Radio Frequency (for example Bluetooth®) emitter", and the X105 IR pair "with 3D devices that use IR 3D synchronization protocol" [23]. The RF pair's guide adds: "They do not work with IR (InfraRed) 3D TV's or IR emitters." [17] These are XPAND's claims, not our findings.

What owners report. Five people, each in their own words, on Blu-ray Forum and YouTube. We have not tested any of this. Three of the five own Panasonic sets; we found few accounts for Samsung, Sony or LG.

The owner from August 2025 also wrote: "you need to choose the correct synch tech - IR or RF. The TV manual will tell you which tech is used." [19]

When the glasses will not work

Samsung's lines: its SSG-5150GB guide [7] and UK operating guide [22]. Sony's: its 2012 and 2014 TV manuals [3][9]. XPAND's: the X105 RF guide [17].

The same pair on a second TV has to be paired again. Sony: "If you use the Active 3D Glasses with another TV, you will need to re-register." [9]

If no pair can be had for your set, see what replaces a 3D TV.

Frequently asked questions

Does a 3D Blu-ray player need its own glasses?

Not by Samsung's account of its own players: the player "simply plays the 3D content but it is the TV that displays the 3D image and sends the 3D signal to its compatible 3D active shutter glasses" [1].

Do 3D TV glasses fit over prescription glasses?

Some are made to. Samsung says its 3D glasses "have a 'fit-over' design" for people who already wear glasses [1]. Sony's 2014 manual says to "remove the nose pad from the Active 3D Glasses by pulling it down, then wear them over your glasses" [9].