NICT, JVC Victor team up on no-glasses-needed 3D HDTV

Betcha didn't see this one coming, did you Philips? No sooner than the aforementioned company unveiled a rather striking 56-inch Quad Full 3D HDTV over on the left coast of the US did Japan's National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) and JVC Victor one-up that with a 72-inch prototype of their own. Revealed at CEATEC 2008, the Full HD (1,920 x 1,080) set doesn't even require viewers to sport those face-consuming glasses to experience the effect. In essence, the display utilizes multiple projectors to really emphasize that elusive third-dimension, but the viewing angle is understandably limited. Oh, and we hope you're not too geeked up about this -- NICT stated that we probably wouldn't see these in the commercial realm before 2011. Ah well, at least there's IMAX to hold us.

[Via Gearlog]

[gabe @ Oct 3rd 2008 6:15AM]

imax makes me dizzy

[j_g_puff @ Oct 3rd 2008 6:37AM]

I'm not so excited about 3D tvs (because they're useless until someone starts making 3d content...) but 3d monitors...yes yes yes. They're perfect: You know exactly where the user is sitting, so narrow viewing angle doesn't matter. Also, adding the required 2nd viewport to a game engine shouldn't (i'm guessing) be too hard, as long as you have a good enough machine. I know there are some 3D gaming tools, but I think they generally use shuttered glasses displaying alternative L/R frames. 3D monitors would be much better.

Anyone know if/when these will be around?

[j_g_puff @ Oct 3rd 2008 6:44AM]

I decided to stop being lazy and google it. It seems that loads of people make polarisation 3D monitors (bad, because you need glasses) and Sharp (and perhaps others) have a parallax-barrier unit (http://www.pcworld.com/article/117303/sharp_ships_3d_monitor.html). I hope they become mainstream soon.

[yuriythebest @ Oct 3rd 2008 10:22AM]

I myself am using a 3d monitor and think it's amazing- not so much for movies because they are few and far between these days- but awesome when I do come across them, but for games- there these things really shine. Ut3, SPORE in stereo3d just rock!

[groog @ Oct 3rd 2008 10:26AM]

I saw a Sanyo 3D monitor, only showing CGI, at CES 4years ago. Didn't need any glasses and worked a treat. I have wondered since what happened to it...

[Matthew @ Oct 3rd 2008 12:01PM]

I'm not sure how this is a one up. Sure its bigger but I would most definitely take the 56 inch Quad Full 3D HDTV over this 72 inch tv. The 56 inch has four times the resolution!

[Namarrgon @ Oct 7th 2008 4:12AM]

They're very different approaches. The QuadHD one is lenticular, so AFAICT there are a limited number of viewing positions, and you only get half the horizontal resolution (which is still 1920 pixels, can't complain).

This one apparently has a large number of projectors (the article seems to suggest it has 50?!), each of which projects a slightly different angle view of the subject. I suppose you still get the stereo "3D effect", but you can also actually change your parallax and look *around* the object (within limits), and see details that are obscured from other angles. You can't do this without headtracking, on most other displays. It sounds quite cool, but probably impractical for any motion (imagine the bandwidth needed for 50 simultaneous full-HD image streams).

[Mile @ Oct 3rd 2008 1:23PM]

Doesn't look 3d to me. :P

[EdMazza @ Oct 3rd 2008 3:22PM]

This is exciting news. JVC, Victor, NewSight, Phillips: Together with 3D cameras such as Fuji's and NewSights converter for 3D content. I think the 72 inch is overkill for most homes; however, gaming in archades might be pretty cool.

[orangecat @ Oct 3rd 2008 5:58PM]

nice car

[Ian @ Oct 3rd 2008 6:19PM]

3D porn?

[BobDole @ Oct 3rd 2008 7:13PM]

How exactly is it a one-up on Philips if they managed QuadHD (3840 x 2160) on 56" while this is borderline pixely with 72" at 1920 x 1080?

Also, a 'limited viewing angle' on a 72" basically means you'll have to secure your head in some manner of contraption otherwise the edges of the screen will lose their 3D effect.

[Steve-O @ Oct 4th 2008 11:33PM]

geeked up? where's mac dre when you need him?