CES 2008: Texas Instruments DualView technology spells death for split screen gaming (in a good way)

Co-op gaming has been on the rise over the past couple of years as there’s nothing better than buddying up with a friend to take on the armies of evil. The problem is that if you actually want to be sat beside your friend while you play, you’re going to have to sacrifice half of your screen just so they can see what they’re doing. Selfish bastards. Well not anymore. Texas Instruments is showcasing a new screen technology that displays two separate image sources at the same time on a DLP HDTV screen, meaning that each player can enjoy full screen gaming whilst sat beside and watching the same TV as their partner.

Each player has to don a pair of special glasses so that they can see their specific source. Select Samsung and Mitsubishi DLP HDTVs are starting to ship with DualView technology.

It sounds like a great idea to me, with only one glaring flaw – you’re obviously going to need to hook up two console to the TV at the same time in order to get the full dual screen system working. I suppose there’s a possibility that if the technology takes off, there might be a way of achieving the same result with a special version on just a single game, but we’re probably a long way from that happening. On the plus side, at least if you really want full screen side-by-side multiplayer gaming, then all you need to do is lug your console round to a friend’s house, rather than a screen as well.

Texas Instruments

CES 2008 Special
Read all our coverage from the show in our CES 2008 category