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OLED TVs are the cream of the crop if you are looking for a high-quality television to watch TV shows and Movies.
You get top-of-the-line color contrast with perfect black levels and bright whites.
Go to any big electronics retailer and you will probably hear the word OLED if you show interest in buying a TV.
Funny enough that’s how I ended up getting my TV, I asked what was the best TV for watching movies, and the knowledgeable salesman really explained the benefits of OLED technology.
I have a Sony Bravia xr A80j.
But what if you are looking to play 3D movies, can OLED play them?
Oled TVs cannot play 3D movies. 3D films died in 2015 when manufacturers stopped producing 3D TVs and media.
It was extremely short-lived and it seems the entire industry tried to capitalize off the success of one movie, the highest-grossing movie of all time albeit, Avatar.
Films displayed in 3D failed to capture the same effect as Avatar, leading to the death of the format, nowadays there is no media being distributed in 3D for Home entertainment.
In this blog post, I will explain what you will need to play 3D movies as well as why I recommend buying an OLED over a 3D TV.
What you need to play 3D movies
If you want to play 3D movies on your display you will need a 3D TV or Projector as well as some form of 3D media to play.
A popular choice is 3D Blu-Ray Ray but for this, you will need a 3D Blu-Ray player and 3D discs which can start getting expensive.
You will also need some form of 3D glasses to wear while watching 3D content, unfortunately, there is no way to see 3D without the glasses on.
This is a major reason 3D never took off and ceases to exist now, nobody wanted to wear those glasses. For a lot of people, it causes headaches and dizziness so the novelty of the format wore off fairly quickly.
I explained in more detail why 3D blu ray as a format failed in a separate blog post if you want to check that out.
You will need to buy these items
As mentioned before you will need to buy a 3D TV, 3D Blu-Ray Player, and 3D discs.
3D TVs are hard to find as no major retailer sells them anymore, you will probably have to go on eBay or other places to buy a used one.
3D Blu-Ray players are also harder to find as they are not made anymore, but the Samsung BD-H6500 3D Smart Blu-ray Disc Player (paid link) is still available and sold on online retailers.
There is also plenty of 3D discs you can buy although no modern movies are being released in the format.
You will have a much easier time buying movies than a TV or player, you can buy amazing 3d movies online, avatar (paid link) comes to mind.
3D glasses are also easy to find, you can even use the ones given out at theaters.
However, you can also buy some good ones (paid link) online just make sure to avoid the very old paper ones, as those are relics and not very good.
Why you are better served by ditching 3D and going all in on OLED
OLED technology is the best way to watch movies right now.
You get amazing color contrast on an OLED display, many claim that watching movies on an OLED is a superior viewing experience than seeing a film at a theater.
This applies to the best theaters in the world like IMAX with Laser and Dolby Cinema, the picture quality from an OLED is on par if not better than the projectors used in those theaters.
Unfortunately, OLEDs can’t play 3D content so where does this leave you?
I’d recommend ditching 3D and instead moving on to OLED as you will get stunning 4k picture quality with enhanced High Dynamic Range and color contrast.
3D is largely a gimmick and was never properly utilized post Avatar, Studios put the bare minimum into the format and just saw the format as a potential cash cow.
Movies to watch on your OLED
If you want to experience the true powers of OLED then 4K Blu-Ray is the way to go. Some of the most popular and best-looking movies of all time include Lawrence of Arabia, Dunkirk, Blade Runner 2049, and 1917 (paid links).
When you pop these discs into a player you will see amazing detail in the image, stunning HDR, and color contrast. What you are watching will appear life-like. Something that can’t be said with 3D.
