The friendly green monster Shrek, the blue-skinned Na'vi of the planet Pandora and Wayne Rooney's shots on goal will shortly take on a new, three-dimensional glory.

Following the success of the Hollywood fantasy blockbuster Avatar, the world's top electronics companies are rushing to deliver 3D television to stores.

First out of the starting blocks is the Korean electronics giant of Samsung, launching a 3D range that will be in British shops by the end of the month and is available for ptre-order now.

Billed as the world's first high definition, three-dimensional LED televisions, Samsung's range was launched by the Black Eyed Peas at a global marketing debut in New York in March .

Samsung said its televisions and Blu-ray devices will come with a starter pack of two pairs of 3D glasses and a Blu-ray version of Monsters vs Aliens under a deal with the movie studio DreamWorks Animation.

"It's quite simply the entertainment revolution of our time," said DreamWorks' chief executive, Jeffrey Katzenberg. "It's as important as the introduction of sound or colour."

Keen to get in on the act, the Japanese company Panasonic has also sold its first 3D televisions via US BestBuy electronics siores. And Sony, which expects to begin selling its sets in June, has gone into overdrive with an ambitious target of selling 2.5m 3D televisions by March 2011 – amounting to roughly one tenth of all its global television sales.

In British shops, John Lewis's vision buyer, David Kempner, said he expected demand to be a "slowburn", with an opening price point of £2,000. "HD is still a relatively new concept and consumers are just getting used to it but 3D will be the next big thing. Given it has the support of all the major manufacturers, 3D technology has got momentum of its own but it also requires content providers to support it and there is a time lag there."

Experts say that 3D televisions are likely to enjoy mainstream uptake because the technology behind them barely costs any more than existing sets. To achieve three dimensions, manufacturers need more powerful processors but the fundamental make-up of the television changes only marginally. The only substantial extra cost is making 3D glasses.

"The add-on cost of manufacturing isn't significant," said Jim Bottoms, director of the technology consulting company Futuresource. "Set makers are starting to incorporate 3D in higher-end televisions this year. Very quickly, certainly by 2015, virtually every full-sized television will have 3D capability."

Although pricing for British shops is yet to be finalised, Sony's 3D televisions range in Japan from around £2,150 for a 40in set to double that amount for a 60in model, while Samsung is charging $2,000 (£1,350) to $4,000 in American stores.

Sport and films will be the early applications for 3D home entertainment. Under a deal with Sony, Sky has already begun showing certain Premier League matches in pubs on 3D televisions and this summer's World Cup could be a watershed for the technology: Sony will film 25 matches in South Africa using 3D cameras.

The opening ceremony of Vancouver's Winter Olympics was available in 3D. More than 20 movies in 3D are scheduled for release this year, including Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland, which topped Britain's cinema box office charts at the weekend.

Check current UK availability and pricing of 3D TV sets here