3-D TV is officially dead

Sometimes the consumer electronics industry tries to sell a new technology that consumers thoroughly reject — and as a result, it goes on the trash pile of products that were "before their time," to put it nicely.

Here's a great example: 3-D TV, which is officially dead. There are no more major TV-makers that make 3-D TVs anymore.

The last two TV-makers to build 3-D functionality into their sets, LG and Sony, will not build any new sets this year that can show 3-D movies and TV shows, CNET reports.

LG and Sony follow other TV-makers, including Vizio, Sharp, and TCL, that previously removed 3-D technology from their product lines.

In 2010, shortly after the success of "Avatar," the first 3-D blockbuster, TV companies started throwing their entire engineering and marketing might behind the 3-D tech. But ultimately, seven years later, "3-D capability was never really universally embraced in the industry for home use, and it's just not a key buying factor when selecting a new TV," an LG product director told CNET.

Now the TV industry is focusing on 4K, HDR, and smart-TV features as ways to entice buyers to upgrade their sets. In 2012, 3-D TVs accounted for 23% of all dollars spent on TVs, according to NPD Group.

Today, 3-D TV is used in the industry as a shorthand warning to those backing buzzy technologies like virtual reality, augmented reality, and wearables: Even if everyone is doing it doesn't mean it will catch on with consumers.

Some possible reasons 3-D TV never caught on:

Not enough content. DirecTV and ESPN stopped broadcasting their 3-D channels in 2013.

The glasses needed for 3-D were clunky and annoying, and they made people feel self-conscious while wearing them.

3-D TVs were and are perfectly good 2-D TVs, so 3-D features weren't often used.

3-D movies were closely associated with Blu-Ray discs as movie streaming started to gain traction.

3-D TVs need careful calibration and can cause eye strain.

Maybe it was always a gimmick. Ask yourself: Have 3-D effects ever really impressed you or affected your viewing experience?