Japanese electronics maker Toshiba Corp. said Tuesday it is developing technology for a 3D television that won’t require special glasses, according to the Associated Press, following up a report in the Yomiuri newspaper.
Toshiba spokeswoman Yuko Sugahara confirmed glasses-free technology was in the works but would not confirm a report that Toshiba plans to start selling the new TVs by the end of the year.
Autostereoscopic is considered the holy grail of 3D but was considered to be years away for TVs and further away for movie theaters.
Several companies, including Nintendo and Burbank-based MasterImage, have already demonstrated autostereoscopic 3D on smaller screens like portable videogame players and cell phones, respectively, which are easier to develop because a screen is always viewed by a single viewer from directly in front and closer to the screen. The larger the screen, the greater the challenge to display a converged double-image from further away and as many as hundreds of viewing points and angles.
— By Scott Hettrick