3D TV may be dying, but ‘Rogue One’ 3D Blu

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Earlier this year CNET editor David Katzmaier wrote how “the shambling corpse of 3D TV,” had finally fallen down dead in describing Sony and LG’s decision to stop supporting 3D in their TVs in 2017. They were the last two major TV manufacturers to support 3D, years after Vizio had dropped the feature in 2013. Smaller brands like Sharp, TCL and Hisense also didn’t announce any 3D-capable TVs at CES 2017.

But apparently there are still some folks who value 3D — or at least are using the 3D feature on their “older” TVs — because the 3D Blu-ray version of “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” is currently sold out at Best Buy and Target, which are the exclusive retailers for the 3D Blu-ray release. Best Buy is selling a SteelBook version of the 3D Blu-ray while Target has a “only at Target” collectible packaging edition with interchangeable covers.

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You can buy a copy of the Target-exclusive 3D version on Amazon for $60 and it’s currently ranked number 47 on Amazon’s Blu-ray bestseller list (the standard “Rogue One” Blu-ray is No. 1) so it must be selling pretty well.

Did Disney and retailers underestimate demand for the 3D version?

Perhaps, but Disney declined to comment on “that issue” when I reached to the company through a PR rep.

Sadly, I failed to buy either Best Buy’s or Target’s 3D exclusive before they went out of stock and I’m not quite ready to pay double for Target’s version on Amazon. But as soon as I get my hands on a copy, it’ll be under consideration for our “Best 3D Blu-rays” list below.

I did enjoy watching the 3D version of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” on a 2016 65-inch LG OLED, with passive 3D technology.

As I’ve said before, the irony about 3D is that although it’s been dying in the home market and TV manufacturers are no longer touting the feature — or are eliminating altogether — it’s finally really good on TVs like LG’s (pre-2017) OLED 4K models.

If 3D TV had been like that from the start, it wouldn’t be dying.

Best 3D Blu-rays

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