The Tokyo-based company on Monday unveiled the world's first high definition liquid crystal display 3-D television that does not require special glasses - one of the biggest consumer complaints about the technology.

The Marquee Wakefield 12 theater in Wake Forest has sold about 40 tickets for the 3-D showing of the BCS title game between Florida and Oklahama at 8 p.m. Thursday. The theater holds 284 people, so it's expecting (hoping for) a strong walk-up crowd of fans who decide it's worth $20 a ticket to don those glasses and see the game in a different way.

The Wakefield 12 is the one local theater showing the game in 3-D. Others in North Carolina: Carmike Market Fair 15 in Fayetteville, Carmike 14 in Hickory, Carmike 16 in Jacksonville, Carmike Wynnsong 12 in Winston-Salem and Carmike 10 in Asheville.

If anyone's planning to go, I'd like to hear from you on your expectations. 

A company called 3Ality Digital in Burbank, Calif., is planning to show the Bowl Championship Series national title game live in 3-D on Jan. 8 in 80 to 100 theaters across the country, including at least four in North Carolina.

The Florida-Oklahoma football matchup is scheduled to be shown at at the Marquee Wakefield 12 in Raleigh, Carmike 14 in Hickory, Carmike Market Fair 15 in Fayetteville and Carmike Wynnsong in Winston-, says Angela Gyetvan, vice president of sales and marketing for 3Ality. Tickets should cost $18 to $22.

The company tried out the technology on a Thursday night NFL game Dec. 4 between San Diego and Baltimore, which was shown in 3-D to three test audiences, Gyetvan says.

Despite a couple of glitches, "people just went crazy," she says. "Even the jaded NFL staff members said they'd never seen anything like it."

The Associated Press reported that the test broadcast went black twice before halftime as the satellite signal went down, and some camera moves had audience members crossing their eyes and removing their polarized lenses.

But audiences generally approved of the technology, which adds depth to the field and gives a sense of being there in person. Shots of cheerleaders were a big hit.