Avatar is seen as the movie that will spearhead the uptake of 3D television, but hopes that it will come out in November have been dashed and it may not come out until 2012.

The "vanilla" 2D version of Avatar will be released in Australia on Blu-ray on 29 April and, despite director James Cameron's best efforts, it appears that the 3D version is at least a year away.

According to the LA Times, sources within Fox say that a November 2010 release date of the 3D version is "wrong" and that it will be an "ultimate" 2D version instead. It claims a third version, in 3D, is planned for sometime in the future, with website The Digital Bits predicting that it mightn't be out for several years as Fox is waiting for 3D to hit saturation point.

3D televisions will go on sale in Australia from April, but until 3D Blu-ray players and discs become available there will be no way to use them in a 3D context — of course, they will still work as normal 2D TVs.

Would you buy a 3D TV despite a potentially long wait for Avatar to come out on 3D Blu-ray? Let us know below.

Via CNET News.com