Panasonic TY-ER3D5MA as supplied with the 2013 active 3d sets
3D3 universal 3D active A1112 RF glasses £39.99 (TPS.uk.com)
Xpand 105 "lite" RF model £60 (chromapure.co.uk)
All glasses tested on a panasonic 50" gt60 using 3d Cinema mode.
First thing Ive noticed about all 3 of these glasses is that the 3d perfomance is identical. Where theres crosstalk its there on all 3 glasses and the 3d effect is identical with all 3 sets too. Where the difference lies is with colour and comfort of viewing.
First the Panasonic set. These are battery powered glasses and use a little watch style battery housed in the nose bridge. Battery life seems pretty good, used them for a good 4 or 5 hours and they're still showing as full battery on the TVs indicator. They're comfortable to wear for the duration of a movie and sync with a simple press of a button. Not had any issues syncing whatsoever, first time every time.
But I hate them. I find watching movies or Sky 3D a real annoyance. They have this huge nose piece which houses the battery and because of this the glasses are pushed away from your face resulting in a letterbox view of anything you're watching. This wouldn't be so bad but the frames are made of a thick black plastic that is possibly the most reflective substance on earth, so any light source, be it ambient light, a gap in the curtains or the light emitted from the TV itself is reflected in the frames. What you end up with is like watching TV through a rectangular keyhole with tiny shafts of reflected light bouncing of the frames, its really off-putting and the reason I went on the hunt for something better.
The 3D3 glasses were recommended by someone on here, Id not heard of them so I looked them up and found very favourable reviews. What also drew me to them was the rubberised matt finish. If you look closely at the photo of the Xpand 105s youll see a tiny crack in the middle. My 2yr old daughter got her hands on them and in seconds they were snapped in two
well not only do they have a matt finish but they looked indestructible!
Theyre also rechargeable through that flat little mini usb that everything seems to use these days so I can plug them into the TV/ps3 to charge.
They came in a nice solid box which ill keep to store them (the pannys were just bubble wrapped) a cloth drawstring pouch and even a cleaning cloth (3d glasses are THE hardest things to keep clean!), a usb lead and a little instruction book.
Sat on the sofa to open then them about 10ft away from the TV, pressed the sync button just to see if they were charged and they immediately paired with my TV showing half battery charge. Fully charged them and again, sync first time every time, but not really had them long enough to test battery life.
These have a much smaller nose piece to although the frames are thick and the lenses about the same size they sit closer to your face so are are less obtrusive. The nose piece does come off (not sure its supposed to!) to get an even closer fit, but theyre perfectly fine as they are.
They're also very comfortable to wear, better than the panasonic ones despite their imposing look. They dont pinch and feel very light.
As ive said, 3d performance wise, identical to the pannys and 105s but these seem to have much richer colours, like when I add a polarising filter to my DSLR. Flicking between pairs I found these glasses showed bluer skies and greener vegetation. There was no difference in light levels as Id read in some reviews, shadows and light looked the same on all pairs. A double click of the power button switches the right and left eye (whats this for? makes things unwatchable).
The Xpand 105 lite glasses were quite expensive at £60 a pair but theyre my all round favourites to wear.
They came in flimsy cardboard box, not really adequate for storage and were inside a foam bag. Got a usb lead and instruction manual but no cloth.
Once again, synced straight away and have not had a single issue since. Same charger as the 3D3s (handy) and so far excellent battery life remaining at full to 3/4 for 2 weeks with light viewing.
Theyre called lite for a reason, the frames on these are tiny and they weigh next to nothing. The nose piece is removable and let the glasses sit really close on your face. Coupled with large lenses they really fill your field of vision and gave me a far more immersive experience. They dont give the rich colours of the 3D3s but are by far the most comfortable of the 3, like wearing really light sports sunglasses.
You can double click the power button to give you 2D, so if someone hates 3D or your eyes get tired you can switch to 2d for a while. Great feature this.
Yeah theyre expensive but when you can blow £1k-£2k on a good TV i think its worth an extra few quid for a decent pair of specs.
Sorry for such a long post but to summarise
Panasonic -
Comfy, decent battery life, free (effectively)
Horrible design, too reflective.
3D3 -
Rechargeable, best colours of the 3, Good packaging/accessories, toddler proof!
Frames a little on the beefy side
Xpand 105s
Rechargeable, incredibly "lite", big lenses/tiny frames.
Not toddler proof! most expensive
3D3 universal 3D active A1112 RF glasses £39.99 (TPS.uk.com)
Xpand 105 "lite" RF model £60 (chromapure.co.uk)
All glasses tested on a panasonic 50" gt60 using 3d Cinema mode.
First thing Ive noticed about all 3 of these glasses is that the 3d perfomance is identical. Where theres crosstalk its there on all 3 glasses and the 3d effect is identical with all 3 sets too. Where the difference lies is with colour and comfort of viewing.
First the Panasonic set. These are battery powered glasses and use a little watch style battery housed in the nose bridge. Battery life seems pretty good, used them for a good 4 or 5 hours and they're still showing as full battery on the TVs indicator. They're comfortable to wear for the duration of a movie and sync with a simple press of a button. Not had any issues syncing whatsoever, first time every time.
But I hate them. I find watching movies or Sky 3D a real annoyance. They have this huge nose piece which houses the battery and because of this the glasses are pushed away from your face resulting in a letterbox view of anything you're watching. This wouldn't be so bad but the frames are made of a thick black plastic that is possibly the most reflective substance on earth, so any light source, be it ambient light, a gap in the curtains or the light emitted from the TV itself is reflected in the frames. What you end up with is like watching TV through a rectangular keyhole with tiny shafts of reflected light bouncing of the frames, its really off-putting and the reason I went on the hunt for something better.
The 3D3 glasses were recommended by someone on here, Id not heard of them so I looked them up and found very favourable reviews. What also drew me to them was the rubberised matt finish. If you look closely at the photo of the Xpand 105s youll see a tiny crack in the middle. My 2yr old daughter got her hands on them and in seconds they were snapped in two
well not only do they have a matt finish but they looked indestructible!Theyre also rechargeable through that flat little mini usb that everything seems to use these days so I can plug them into the TV/ps3 to charge.
They came in a nice solid box which ill keep to store them (the pannys were just bubble wrapped) a cloth drawstring pouch and even a cleaning cloth (3d glasses are THE hardest things to keep clean!), a usb lead and a little instruction book.
Sat on the sofa to open then them about 10ft away from the TV, pressed the sync button just to see if they were charged and they immediately paired with my TV showing half battery charge. Fully charged them and again, sync first time every time, but not really had them long enough to test battery life.
These have a much smaller nose piece to although the frames are thick and the lenses about the same size they sit closer to your face so are are less obtrusive. The nose piece does come off (not sure its supposed to!) to get an even closer fit, but theyre perfectly fine as they are.
They're also very comfortable to wear, better than the panasonic ones despite their imposing look. They dont pinch and feel very light.
As ive said, 3d performance wise, identical to the pannys and 105s but these seem to have much richer colours, like when I add a polarising filter to my DSLR. Flicking between pairs I found these glasses showed bluer skies and greener vegetation. There was no difference in light levels as Id read in some reviews, shadows and light looked the same on all pairs. A double click of the power button switches the right and left eye (whats this for? makes things unwatchable).
The Xpand 105 lite glasses were quite expensive at £60 a pair but theyre my all round favourites to wear.
They came in flimsy cardboard box, not really adequate for storage and were inside a foam bag. Got a usb lead and instruction manual but no cloth.
Once again, synced straight away and have not had a single issue since. Same charger as the 3D3s (handy) and so far excellent battery life remaining at full to 3/4 for 2 weeks with light viewing.
Theyre called lite for a reason, the frames on these are tiny and they weigh next to nothing. The nose piece is removable and let the glasses sit really close on your face. Coupled with large lenses they really fill your field of vision and gave me a far more immersive experience. They dont give the rich colours of the 3D3s but are by far the most comfortable of the 3, like wearing really light sports sunglasses.
You can double click the power button to give you 2D, so if someone hates 3D or your eyes get tired you can switch to 2d for a while. Great feature this.
Yeah theyre expensive but when you can blow £1k-£2k on a good TV i think its worth an extra few quid for a decent pair of specs.
Sorry for such a long post but to summarise
Panasonic -
Comfy, decent battery life, free (effectively)
Horrible design, too reflective.
3D3 -
Rechargeable, best colours of the 3, Good packaging/accessories, toddler proof!
Frames a little on the beefy side
Xpand 105s
Rechargeable, incredibly "lite", big lenses/tiny frames.
Not toddler proof! most expensive
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