The study was conducted by CBS Vision, the Las Vegas-based research division and facility owned by CBS Corporation.

3M is a leading technology company in high-quality consumer electronics.

The findings show that as TVs become central entertainment hubs for viewing, gaming and web connectivity, consumers are viewing their TVs from many different angles on a regular basis, and expect a consistently bright and crisp screen image. As consumers age, they place an even higher premium on wide-angle viewing, the study shows.

"We were pleased to team up with 3M to take a closer look at the fundamentals surrounding consumers' LCD television viewing experience," said David Poltrack, chief research officer, CBS Corporation and president, CBS Vision.

"We learned that consumers don't always realize that the way they watch their LCD TV impacts the quality of what they see."

3M physicist Dave Lamb, the scientific adviser on the study, said: "We wanted to understand how important wide-angle luminance — a combination of off-axis viewing and brightness — was to consumers, since this is something 3M technology enhances. This study shows that wide-angle luminance is very important, even if consumers are not initially aware of the measurement.”

Studying nearly 600 consumers in three phases over a four-week period, the study found that 84 percent of respondents view their TVs from a variety of angles.

Further, 69 percent of participants said wide-angle picture quality was very or extremely important. And yet, 44 percent initially were unaware of a difference in quality of many LCD screens when viewed from the side.