Which TVs Have 3D? Samsung, LG, Sony and Other Brands, by Year

LG's Full LED 3D set at its launch in March 2010, with the glasses it needed. Photo: LG Electronics (LG전자), CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Which brands made 3D TVs, and which lines

Every cell below comes from the maker's own manual, spec sheet, support page or press page. The years are the ones those pages show; a brand may have sold 3D sets outside them. Where a year or a name rests on less than the page's own text, the cell says so.

Three notes on the table.

• LG. The OLED55B6P, which an LG reply on its page also dates to 2016, has no 3D line there; the OLED65E6P and OLED55C6P do [12][13][14]. An LG staff reply on the OLED65E6P page says LG's 2016 3D sets "were the last TVs to support 3D" [12].
• Panasonic. Its North American chart names every 3D model by full model number, and its European list for 2017 includes the EX780 and EXW784 [22][23].
• Vizio. The 2013 model in the table and the next two facts come from outside articles that Vizio carried on its own site. One, from June 2010, describes active-shutter XVT3D sets due late that year [28]; whether they went on sale is not confirmed. In January 2014 Vizio's news page ran The Verge's headline "VIZIO Announces Its First Consumer 4K TVs, Kills All 3D Support" [29].

The 3D type decides the glasses. On an active set, "liquid crystal shutters in the 3D Glasses alternately open and close", in step with the picture [32]. On a passive set there is nothing to register: Sony's guide says you watch "by just putting the Passive 3D Glasses on" [21].

How to tell if one TV has 3D

1. Get the full model number. On older Samsung TVs it is on the back; on newer ones it is in the settings menu, under Support, then About TV [2].
2. Look the number up at the maker. Panasonic's chart says: "If a model number is not listed it did not have 3D capability." [22] LG's US site still has pages for old models, marked "DISCONTINUED", and a 3D set's page has the line "FPR (Passive)" [10][11]. Sharp's manual heads its 3D chapter with the models it applies to [32]. Samsung's model letter gives the year, from C for 2010 to J for 2015 [2]; that page does not say which models have 3D, so go to step 3.
3. Open the TV's menu. Sony's 2019-dated guide: "3D models have [3D settings] in [Settings] — [Display & Sound]" [21]. Its 2012 and 2014 manuals print HOME, then [Settings] → [Display] → [3D Settings] [18][19]. On Samsung's JS9000, 3D is under Menu, then Picture [5]. Samsung India's page for the H-series UA40H6400 puts a 3D Picture Test under Support > Self Diagnosis, on the models that have it [3].

Which glasses each brand's sets take

Active glasses belong to a brand, and often to a few model years.

• Samsung. The 2010 pairs use infrared and the later ones Bluetooth [1]. Samsung's page for the 2015 JS9000 says "IR-type Samsung 3D Active Glasses and third-party 3D glasses are not supported" [5].
• Sony. The 2014 active pair, TDG-BT500A, has to be registered to the TV before first use, and again for another TV [19].
• Sharp. The LE925UN manual says: "These 3D Glasses are only for use with Sharp LCD TVs supporting 3D." [30]

Passive glasses need no registering [21]. Vizio said in 2011 that its Theater 3D eyewear "can even be used for 3D viewing in most local movie theaters" [26]; we have not tested that. How each kind works, and what to look for in a replacement pair, is in types of 3D glasses.

If the set you are checking has no 3D, the other ways to show a 3D film are in how to watch 3D movies at home.

Frequently asked questions

Does "3D ready" mean the glasses come with the TV?

No. Samsung's support page says of 3D-ready sets that "glasses may be sold separately" [33]. Sony's 2010 guide says the glasses and the transmitter are "supplied or available as optional accessories, depending on your TV model" [16]. Sharp's manual for the UQ17U and four other 3D lines lists glasses in the box for three of the five only [32].

Does every Sony TV have 3D?

No. A Sony TV Help Guide with a 2019 copyright date marks its 3D pages "3D models only", and tells owners to "Refer to the specifications in the Reference Guide to see which type of 3D Glasses the TV supports" [21]. That page does not say which models or years it covers, and Sony's last 3D year is not confirmed here. The last Sony models another guide could trace are in 3D TVs in 2026.