April, 2010 marked the first public retail sale of Active Shutter 3D tellies in the UK. John Lewis offers the fresh off the assembly line Samsung UE40C7000 model – originally slated for a suggested retail price of nearly £2300 – for £1799. As expected, the Active Shutter glasses required to view full-3D are priced at £200 for two pairs and the necessary IR sensor.

To soften the blow a mite, John Lewis is bundling the Samsung BD-C6900 Blu-Ray player and a pair of glasses with the telly for a total of £2138. This pair retails for £349 for the player and £75 for the glasses, the total savings is about 25% below retail.

Comet and Curry are scheduled to roll out the same Samsung 3D tellies next week. John Lewis is currently taking advance orders for the Sony Bravia HX903 3D. As the Samsung, the glasses are separately priced at £100 for the glasses and £75 for the IR transmitter. Currently, the pre-order price for the Sony telly alone is £2500. As the sets start to move, it is reasonable to expect the prices will drop.

Current analysis data from Screen Digest, Ltd., indicates 185,000 3D HD tellies will be sold this year alone, with more than 7 million sold by 2015.

Panasonic and LG 3D sets are expected to be stocked on retail shelves in May and June. Whilst BBC/ITV has yet to get past whingeing pom phase of good old UK 2D HD, Sky and Freeview are getting the jump on them, broadcasting 3D sports content of significance to Britons.

There are other fish in the sea providing a growing and dynamic array of sports programming, including the World Cup – in countries other than the UK – the French Open Tennis matches, Premier League football, and the final matches of the UEFA Champions League football. Golf and Cricket shouldn't be too long in coming to 3D. ESPN in the former colonies already has an HD 3D network in place, as does South Korea, South Africa and Spain.

For the critics nay-saying the new generation of 3D tellies and the prices as a wee queasing, it is worth noting that there is more to the 2010 line-up of HD 3D TVs than just 3D capability. LED Backlit screens, faster interpolating scan engines, ultra-thin, light hang weight sets are stylish, with thinner bezels and superior connectivity options are worth the price, regardless of whether or not 3D is used. The new technology has had a serendipitous effect of making the images seem deeper and richer than ever.

It's worth your time to suss out a retailer stocking sets near you and spending a little quality squiz time behind 3D glasses before you decide to take the pure bead plunge into a full 3D set.