The quality of 3D on such a small surface is really tricky to judge. Ideally, the effect should resemble a shoe-box diorama, with an equal amount of sharpness in both the foreground and background objects. But every person perceives 3D differently, it seems, and some people can't see 3D at all. After comparing the images and videos on the two phone displays, I started to feel as if I were going cross-eyed. To accurately judge which 3D display looks better, I recruited a few fellow PCWorld editors to weigh in. I loaded up the same two images (professional 3D photos taken with a high-quality 3D camera) and the same video clip (a professionally shot 3D video of Iceland).

We judged the photos on clarity, color, and the density of the 3D effect; we rated video for playback smoothness, clarity, and 3D density. The reviewers were pretty critical of both phones, but three out of four editors picked the HTC EVO 3D over the LG Optimus 3D for better overall 3D quality.

The majority of editors agreed that the HTC EVO 3D's display had the better color, clarity, and 3D effect for still photos. One editor commented that the EVO 3D had "good layering and foreground pop" for the stills. Another said that while the 3D effect is apparent on the EVO 3D, it looked only okay. The editor who picked the Optimus 3D over the EVO 3D said that the latter phone's colors looked dull, and that the Optimus 3D was bright though oversaturated.

On video, we were conflicted. One editor noted that 3D video on the LG Optimus 3D was "barely there." Another remarked that the EVO 3D's video had a weird "bubble effect," where the middle of the picture seemed more raised than the edges did. Although the LG Optimus's video had less depth, its brighter colors and better clarity made it the stronger phone for 3D video, according to another editor.