Finance & Business World

Want to be the first one on your block with a 3-D television? It will cost you about $3,000.

Samsung and Panasonic will start selling 3-D TVs in U.S. stores this week, inaugurating what manufacturers hope is the era of 3-D viewing in the living room. But because the sets require glasses, and there is for now little to watch in the enhanced format, it will take at least a few years for the technology to become mainstream, if it happens at all.

Samsung Electronics Co. announced Tuesday that for $3,000, buyers get a 46-inch set, two pairs of glasses and a 3-D Blu-ray player. Panasonic Corp. will start selling sets Wednesday.

The sales debut comes as moviegoers have shown considerable enthusiasm for the latest wave of 3-D titles in the theater totally free credit score.

Although it’s clear that 3-D sets for the home will appeal to technology and home-theater enthusiasts, it remains to be seen whether other consumers will be enticed to spend at least $500 above the price of a comparably sized standard TV and Blu-ray player.

TV makers hope so, because sets with the last big technological improvement — high definition — have come way down in price, below $500.

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