The 3D effect definitely works, but the visual aesthetics vary from set to set. In still-image mode, you'll want to shoot images at least a couple of feet away from your foreground subject, as anything closer than that can turn into a flickering, blurry ghost when you're viewing the results.

Test images displayed on Panasonic's set were the most impressive: not only did each image show realistic, subtly layered depth, but the backgrounds of each shot appeared to stretch deep into the TV, and foreground objects appeared to pop out of the screen. The same images viewed on Samsung's set lacked the depth of these foreground-to-background effects, and in some cases looked a bit blurry, even with the glasses on. The Vizio displayed images with an effect not unlike a shoebox diorama--in general, images looked like they were extending deep into the screen--but also did an admirable job of making us think we had to dodge the 3D video fists of our colleague, Patrick Miller.

Generally, the Finepix Real 3D W3's 3D output looked better on the big screen than any other 3D-capable compact camera's images and video that we've seen to date. The aesthetic traits of the 3D images and video depended on the display device, so the TV you're watching them on is an important factor. FujiFilm also sells a dedicated, 8-inch glasses-free display device, the FinePix Real 3D V1, for around $500; we weren't able to test the viewer with the camera.

As mentioned before, this is primarily a 3D camera, but the Finepix Real 3D W3 did turn in good results when used as a standard 2D camera. In PCWorld Labs' subjective tests for image and video quality, the camera was rated as Good in the categories of exposure quality, color accuracy, and lack of distortion. Sharpness, however, was a key weak spot, and the Finepix Real 3D W3 logged a rating of Poor in that category.