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Cowon 3D is the 1080p-playing, 4.8-inch PMP that just jumps out at you
As far as 3D goes, we can still take it or leave it, but what's really got us intrigued about Cowon's latest effort is the promise of full 1080p video playback. Ally that to a HDMI output and up to 64GB of flash storage and you've got yourself a pretty potent portable media station. The Cowon 3D PMP offers an 800 x 480 resolution on its own 4.8-inch display -- which is touted as the world's first 3D visualizer on a PMP that doesn't require glasses -- plus a battery rated to last for 10 hours of video, 45 hours of audio and up to 300 hours on standby. And, in an upgrade from the recent X7, this new device also has WiFi connectivity! Launch is scheduled for December 10th in Cowon's backyard of South Korea, with prices coming in at KRW499,000 ($431) for the 32GB-equipped 3D PMP and KRW589,000 ($509) for the 64GB version. [Thanks, Kunal]
Sharp plans 3D smartphones for US, China and India in 2011
It might be all Japanese to you now, but Sharp's autostereoscopic 3D is coming to a smartphone near you next year. The tech will debut next month on the Softbank-bound Galapagos 003SH and 005SH Android handsets, but now Sharp has confirmed its intention to also bring it Stateside as well as to two of the world's most populous nations in China and India. It's not yet exactly clear what handsets those markets will be getting, but if you're looking for further signs of Sharp's expanding international ambition, the company's reported to also be contemplating extending its e-reading tablet platform out to the US and China. Taken alongside Panasonic's recently announced plans to start selling Android smartphones globally in 2012, this does suggest we might soon be watching a neat little resurgence from our buddies from the land of the rising sun.
Sharp Galapagos 003SH and 005SH bring glasses-free 3D to Japanese Android lovers
Hey, what could the maker of the 3DS' autostereoscopic display be doing in its spare time? Why, stealing a bit of thunder for itself, by the looks of it. Sharp has just trotted out a pair of glasses-free 3D Android handsets for Japan's Softbank network in the form of the touchscreen slate 003SH and QWERTY-slidin' 005SH. A 1GHz Snapdragon powers Froyo on both, with the 3D-capable displays stretching to 3.8 inches and 800 x 480 resolution. The 003SH also comes with a 9.6 megapixel camera, while the 005SH settles for 8 megapixels, although both are capable of 720p video. There are also bundled 3D content deals in place, such as the one with Capcom that will see Mega Man, Resident Evil and Ghosts 'n Goblins titles coming preloaded on the handsets. Intrigued? The 003SH is coming this December, to be followed by the 005SH in February.
AUO trumpets 'deadzone-free' laptop and tablet 3D displays, recommends leaving glasses at home
Hello, future! We had an inkling that glasses-free 3D was the next big thing when we had a gaze at Intel's display back at CES earlier this year, but it seems that AUO is out to overcome the largest hurdle when dealing with lenticular lens 3D technology: viewing angles. Today, the outfit has revealed the world's first deadzone-free naked eye 3D notebook panel at FPD International 2010, and as the lengthy title indicates, this solution will enable you to view 3D content sans glasses and without positioning yourself carefully in front of the screen. Purportedly, AUO's tapping into SuperD's naked eye 3D wizardry to create a 15.6-inch laptop (1080p) and 10.1-inch tablet (WXGA) panel, and there's even an eye-tracking mechanism that's baked in to capture viewers' eyeball movements. Zanier still, both 2D and 3D modes can operate concurrently on the same display, and the viewer can switch back and forth between the two modes without having their brain implode. The company's pushing a mass production date of Q3 2011, which means that the last CES this planet ever sees should be quite the interesting one.
Toshiba Regza GL1 3D preview: no frills, no glasses, some issues (video)
It's with some surprise that we pen, finger to key to screen, praise for a 3D display -- particularly one that is glasses-free (the staff is still a bit divided, for example, on Nintendo's 3DS screen). But here we go. Toshiba's 20-inch Regza 20GL1 3D set was on hand at CEATEC, and it's actually a set we could see ourselves comfortably watching for a given span of time. Viewing angles are none too shabby, the refresh rate doesn't visibly distract or inherently cause headaches, and at 720p, you can actually get an enjoyable image. The 56-inch concept conjured up a worthy picture as well, but then again, it's a prototype with no immediate purpose other than causing attendee awe at this point. If we had to fault it, we'd say that the viewing angles where you see two distinct perspectives (see the picture above for an example) are too wide, which means you'd have to be really careful about where you sit on the couch if you were to buy something like this for your den. Also on hand was a notebook, which at this point just didn't cut it. Perhaps it's just too early in development, but what was saw had minimal depth and an unfortunately low resolution / perceived refresh rate; when the video loop it was playing switched to the Windows 7 UI, it looked grainy and extremely difficult to read -- undoubtedly the side effect of trying to use a display designed for permanent 3D use in 2D mode. That leaves us to talk about 12-inch 12GL1, and what can we express other than disappointment? The 466 x 350 resolution (yes, that's less than standard definition) is just awful, you can lose the 3D effect moving marginally to the left or right, depth is not pronounced, and medium-to-fast pace footage just doesn't work. For all the warm-yet-cautious approval we give to the 20GL1, its little brother is quite the black sheep, especially at ¥120,000 ($1,443). Not that ¥240,000 for 20 inches is a bargain, but at least you're getting a quality screen... and for once, you don't actually need additional eyewear to enjoy it. Decidedly two-dimensional snapshots and video taken from an almost pitch-black showroom (i.e. very not optimal) can be found below. %Gallery-104266%
Toshiba Regza GL1 wants you to put down the glasses, enjoy the 3D
Toshiba might have abandoned OLED, but that doesn't mean the company is lacking ambition in the display-making field. Today it's using CEATEC 2010, Japan's biggest electronics expo, to make official that 21-inch glasses-free 3D prototype we've been hearing about. It's lost an inch in becoming a retail product, with the 20GL1 offering a 20-inch diagonal, but the important multi-parallax picture transmission (employing a lenticular lens setup as used in Philips' Dimenco) remains the same. The new set, accompanied by a smaller 12GL1 model, will be shipping in Japan this December, and if it really does what it promises, the rest of the world should not be far behind. Update: Japan's Impress Watch has more details for us, listing a 720p resolution for the 20-incher and a funky 466 x 350 on the 12-inch GL1. Prices are estimated at ¥240,000 ($2,885) and ¥120,000 ($1,443), respectively.%Gallery-104161%%Gallery-104163%
Minox PX3D concept camera eyes-on at Photokina 2010
It took us a solid nine minutes of gawking at Minox's gilded DCC 5.1 in order to push through and locate the PX3D that premiered here at Photokina, but sadly, little was available other than the opportunity to snag a few glamor shots. The general idea is that this cutesy pocket camera will one day hit the market and capture 3D images that can then be viewed on-screen without 3D glasses. We're still under the impression that a parallax barrier panel will be required in order to witness the magic, but it's all still a mystery for now. It's still the most curious looking 3D camera that we've seen to date, so you can bet we'll be keeping you in the loop as this thing slowly crawls from prototype to profit maker. %Gallery-103099%
Minox PX3D concept camera produces 3D images viewable sans glasses
The doors of Photokina open in a matter of hours, and we'll most definitely be venturing over to Minox's booth in order to have a look at the PX3D. According to the barebones teaser release, this here concept camera will be able to capture 3D images that are viewable sans glasses. It should be noted that the world's first consumer-oriented 3D cameras haven't exactly seen the fondest of reviews, but tossing the glasses requirement may just flip things on its head. It's still unclear what kind of display / digital photo frame will be required to view the effect (we're guessing a parallax barrier panel will be thrown up for display), but we'll be barging in soon in order to get the full skinny.
Toshiba reportedly prepping glasses-free 3DTV for Q4 launch
Hot news out of Japan if you're an eager 3D beaver: a report from Toshiba's home nation indicates that the company has three models of glasses-free 3D displays in the pipeline, which are being prepared for launch "before Christmas" at prices of "several thousand dollars" each. As you might recall, we got our first inkling about Toshiba Mobile Display's multi-parallax technique back in April, which is when the above 21-inch panel was being touted along with promises of eliminating eye strain and widening 3D viewing angles. We suspect that by now Toshiba has put a slinky bezel on the thing and started thinking up alphanumeric product names for it, though do bear in mind that queries to its press office were deflected with the boilerplate "no comment" response.
Toshiba prototype display does 2D and 3D at the same time
One of Toshiba's favorite hobbies is to tease the general public with prototype autostereoscopic technology, and that's exactly what we have here today; demoed at SID 2010, this screen can display 2D and 3D images simultaneously on the same 12-inch screen, no glasses required. How it does that is rather complicated, especially when translated from the Japanese, but it sounds like Toshiba's sandwiched a special panel with gradient-index lenses between a high-speed polarizer and the typical color LCD. We'd wager good money it's not coming to a store near you, but we'll keep an eye out for future developments. These days, they have a tendency to pop right out of the screen.
Toshiba Mobile Display touts 21-inch glasses-free 3D HDTV, raises a few eyebrows
While we were fretting about what special tech Nintendo's 3DS would use to generate autostereoscopic imagery on its comparatively puny screen, Toshiba Mobile Display (and others) have been working on bringing that same headgear-free 3D to TV-sized panels. Employing a "multi-parallax" technique, the latest from the Toshiba spinoff firm promises "significant reduction in eye fatigue" as well as approximately a 30 degree horizontal viewing angle. The latter might be peanuts compared to a quality 2D display, but let's not begrudge being offered at least some positional flexibility. Other specs include a 1280 x 800 effective resolution and 480 nits of brightness, which are notable achievements when you consider that the 9-parallax implementation requires the generation of 9 separate images and therefore could be achieved with only an "ultra-high definition LCD module." We've sadly no info about this panel's potential for retail availability, but judging by the bezel-free picture we've been given, that might be a good way off from now.
NewSight's 70-inch 3DTV keeps the glasses away with its parallax barrier tech
Last week's Finetech Japan 2010 expo allowed display manufacturers to show and tell each other about their latest innovations and advancements. One of the unquestioned highlights was NewSight's implementation of parallax barrier technology on displays up to 70 inches in size. The company is claiming its demo unit as the world's largest glasses-free 3D screen, but regrettably deprives us of any further details. All we're told is that the parallax barrier is "affixed to commercial-grade" LCDs, which suggests to us that perhaps the technique and hardware could be applied atop your favorite brand's existent 2D models. Of course, that'd only matter if these displays deliver a manifestly better picture and experience than what we have now, but it's looking like we'll have to wait a little bit longer to find out.
New glasses-free 3D tech uses per pixel prisms for zero crosstalk, audience flexibility
Try as manufacturers might, attempts at autostereoscopic (glasses-free) TV have been subpar; existing tech typically makes for messy images due to ghosting, only provides a 3D effect if you're standing in one of a very few predetermined spots (usually 8-10 viewing angles, though we've heard of 64), and reduces display resolution -- all because only some pixels can be seen from each spot. With the occasional exception, it's not terribly impressive. Scientists at the National Chiao Tung University in Taiwan are looking to change that. Rather than block light with a parallax barrier, their screen uses a matrix of specially cut prisms to reflect it, reducing ghosting to nil and maintaining display resolution by sending the same image to each viewer. Though there are still a fixed number of viewing zones, the prisms are so tiny that manufacturers can simply add more prisms to each pixel to increase that number -- with 11 prisms per pixel, researchers say such a system could support 100 simultaneous 3D moviegoers. We've no word on whether the tech is affordable or when we'll see it, but we expect it to handily beat cyborg eyeballs to market.
Intel shows off glasses-free 3D demo -- now this is more like it
If you've kept even a loose eye on our CES coverage this year, you'd know that 3D is firmly "in." But our main gripe is that the glasses requirement makes it largely impractical for in-home use. Intel had a comparison demo setup in its massive booth, and it had a top display arranged to showcase glasses-free 3D and the bottom to demonstrate the more traditional glasses-required 3D. A technician at the booth explained that the footage was all specifically shot to fit the format, and a special overlay was applied to the 3D HDTV in order to complete the magic. He confessed that the resolution was "sub-720p," and there were only eight specific places that you could stand at in order to actually get the full experience. We stood around 10 feet back, dead center, and were downright wowed by the results. You could honestly see loads of depth, and everything appeared buttery smooth. Stepping closer resulted in less-than-awesome visuals, but we're definitely stoked by the possibilities here. Take note, TV / content makers -- glasses free > glasses-required. %Gallery-82534%
Hitachi exhibits 10-inch glasses-free 3D display
Hitachi's face-recognizing, power-saving plasma may have been the outfit's show-stopper at CEATEC, but this little bugger here showed some pretty fantastic potential as well. The 10-inch 3D display, more formally known as the Full Parallax 3D TV, one-upped most every other 3D display at the show thanks to its ability to showcase dimensions sans any glasses. Unfortunately, the native resolution is just 640 x 480, and yes, it really is just 10-inches in size. In due time, the outfit hopes to scale up to screen sizes that may actually be appealing to end users by utilizing multiple projectors (each of which with a 800 x 600 resolution), though a 4K x 2K 3D display (of the glasses-free variety) is still probably a couple of trade shows out. At least.[Via 3D-Display-Info]
