Electronics companies Samsung and Panasonic unveiled their ground-breaking products at launches across New York's Manhattan island.
While Panasonic opted for a low key roll-out of its new technology at a Best Buy store in Union Square, Samsung called on music powerhouse "Black Eyed Peas" to celebrate "the liberation of 2D entertainment into full high-definition 3D" with a performance in Times Square .
The six-time Grammy Award winning group performed their hits to 10,000 screaming fans, bringing foot traffic to a halt.
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The director of Oscar nominated film "Avatar", James Cameron, had his award-winning technology and crew on hand to shoot the "Black Eyed Peas" concert, turning it into a 3D performance.
"You feel like an idiot when you are at the movie theatre, you are like this, I can feel it, I can see it," said the group's vocalist Fergie, of the 3D movie phenomena.
When asked how she felt about fans grabbing at her during a 3D performance, the singer replied: "Oh gosh! I don't know how I feel about that."
The success of 3D films such as "Avatar" and "Alice in Wonderland" has boosted the hopes of 3D television.
"This is where it is all going," said Cameron, who was on hand to oversee the production.
"It is certainly the way movies are going. We have seen that already. There is very, very broad and deep audience acceptance of 3D right now. It is ours as an industry to screw up if we start putting out bad 3D," he said.
Best Buy has tied up with Panasonic to exclusively sell the Japanese electronics giant's first three-dimensional TV home-entertainment system bundle in the U.S.
The $2,899.99 (US dollars) bundle - which includes a 50-inch plasma 3-D Viera set for $2,499.95, a $399.95 disc player based on the Blu-ray standard and $149.95 viewing glasses - went on wider sale on Wednesday.
The store's Sy Paulcon, a customer solutions manager, said he was confident customers would embrace the new technology, even at the steep price.
"As far as the price point, I actually think that it is very fair...Panasonic released a similar two-dimensional, 2D model last year, to this TV, at around the same price point.
This year, you are getting a Panasonic 50-inch, V25 television, with 3D technology for the same price point you would have got on a 2D television, last year," Paulcon said.
"I think the price is very fair and a lot of customers are going to be nicely surprised when they see how affordable it actually is."
Analysts believe it could be years before 3D is widely adopted in part because of limited availability of content.
Customer Robert Pommells agreed, telling Reuters he planned on holding off on purchasing a new set. "I give myself at least two more years before the technology kicks in, that I will purchase," he said.
Sony is also set to join the market, while LG is already selling 3D sets in a few countries and expect to roll them out worldwide over the next couple of months.
