NEC's 'glasses-free' 3D TV: double the pixels, double the fun

NEC 3D simulation

In this, each pixel is made up from three sub-pixels, each split in half lengthwise, as illustrated in the 'science bit' above, allowing data for left and right eyes to be shown alternately with no loss of resolution, leaving persistence of vision to do the rest.

The system can also display conventional 2D images, by using pairs of adjacent pixels, and indeed can mix 2D and 3D content on the same screen without viewer-fatigue, according to NEC.

At the moment the screen is a 12.1in (31cm) diagonal monitor, developed from a 2.5in HDDP LCD module originally developed by NEC's Central Research Laboratories for portable devices.

It's thought the initial applications will be in the industrial market, since this is now NEC's main area of interest. Typical applications are thought to be amusement arcades, digital signage and computer-aided design, and medical image analysis.

Then again, Japan already has 3D TV broadcasting, and has since the end of 2007...

Andrew has written about audio and video products for the past 20+ years, and been a consumer journalist for more than 30 years, starting his career on camera magazines. Andrew has contributed to titles including What Hi-Fi?, GramophoneJazzwise and Hi-Fi CriticHi-Fi News & Record Review and Hi-Fi Choice. I’ve also written for a number of non-specialist and overseas magazines.