Watching a 3-D movie until recently meant wearing flimsy, plastic glasses with red and blue lenses.

That was the tech that dominated theaters when the first 3-D movies made their big-screen debut in the early 1950s.

After a decades-long hiatus, 3-D made a comeback in a big way last year, with Hollywood hits such as Avatar, Alice in Wonderland, Coraline and Monsters vs. Aliens.

And now stores like Costco and Best Buy have started selling 3-D TVs, while PC makers are offering 3-D laptops.

3-D content has evolved, and so have 3-D glasses. They have gone from being paper throwaways to sophisticated, stylish wraparounds from companies like Oakley and Gunnar Optiks, and they incorporate a variety of technologies aimed at making the movies more realistic, colorful and bright.

But one thing remains the same: You still have to wear the glasses.