Even as the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) moved to standardise active shutter glasses, several manufacturers are pushing for 3DTVs that provide the same illusion of depth without the viewer having to don uncomfortable and goofy 3D eyewear.
Toshiba was the first to offer 3DTVs that require no special glasses, although the LCD panels are available in 12 and 21-inch display sizes and offered initially in Japan only. Aside from proving to the world that no-glasses 3D is technically feasible, the company hoped to gain early market advantage as well as capture a sizable chunk of early 3DTV adopters in Japan, even if the TV sets are quite pricey for their sizes.
Said Japanese TV maker employed lenticular technology wherein convex lenses are used to create nine views of each 3D frame and these images are delivered at an angle to each eye to recreate the difference in perspective needed by the eye to give depth. Viewers must be within a 40-degree range directly in front of the TV and in specific distances to be able to perceive the 3D effect.
Toshiba also admits difficulties in putting the technology in bigger panels; the bigger-screen prototypes shown in CES 2011 may have superb 3D effects, but these have only three viewing angles and picture quality is quite unimpressive. Samsung earlier dashed hopes of having no-glasses 3DTVs in its line-up, saying that it may take a decade more before the company overcomes the scaling difficulties and technical barriers in making these TV type in screens larger than 20 inches.
Other glasses-free 3DTV implementations being developed by various groups include the integral imaging technique that expands on the lenticular technology by decreasing the size of the lens; the head tracking 3D technology wherein a built-in webcam locks-in on the viewer’s eyes and beams the two-perspectives required to produce 3D to wherever the viewer is positioned; and the 3D TV Box device that takes standard 3D images and projects these on to the TV display with the same depth as viewed using 3D glasses.
