3D Displays for Laptops - No Silly Glasses Required

Posted by Fraser Lovatt on 12 September 2003 at 8:34 am | Tagged as: Platforms, Gadgets

Incorporating the new 3D LCD*1 technology developed by Sharp, their new PC-RD3D (sounds a bit Star Wars, really) is a high-performance workbook with a 2.8GHz processor and a GeForce 4 440 graphics chip.

The 3D display has very exciting applications: CAD, medical imaging, playing Star Wars Galaxies … but how does it work?

The display is switchable between two modes, standard 2D and a mode optimised for 3D applications. In 3D mode, light leaving the display is polarized by a filter into one of two different directions, so each eye sees a different image. This "parallax barrier system" has been used in things like those LCD switching glasses you get handed at the IMAX cinema, but this is the first time it’s been employed on a display.

Sharp explain how their 3D display works