Toshiba showcase glasses-free 3D TVs

Toshiba are hoping to leap-frog the TV manufacturing competition by becoming the first major company to mass-produce glasses-free 3D TVs.

Revealed at this week’s CEATEC show in Japan, the company have two different sets in the pipeline, one 12 inches across and the other 20 inches, neither of which require 3D glasses to enjoy as they make use of lenticular technology.

Toshiba’s new sets offer “nine different perspectives (parallaxes) of each single 2D frame which the viewer’s brain superimposes to create a 3-dimensional impression of the image.”

The screens then use a “powerful engine and an algorithm to extrapolate these perspectives out of the 2D frame and use a perpendicular lenticular sheet, an array of lenses, that enable the viewer’s brain to superimpose the perspectives. It also offers a wide viewing area in front of the display and allows movement of the eyes and head without disrupting the 3D image and without the discomfort sometimes associated with other ‘glasses-less’ 3D technologies.”

However Toshiba aren’t expecting an overnight sales boom when the sets are released to the public, instead targeting a “small group of early adopters.”

“The commercial launch of our 12-inch and 20-inch 3D TVs without glasses in Japan is a first step into the 3D future in the consumer home cinema market,” says Sascha Lange. “But it will take several years to develop larger 3D TVs without glasses with screen sizes of 40-inch and more at a reasonable price point.”

No pricing has been announced yet, but don’t let the relatively small screen sizes fool you; these are going to be expensive tellies. They’ll be available in Japan before the end of the year.