Posted 06.11.2010 at 12:43 pm
12 Comments
Everyone's got World Cup Fever this weekend, and for a lucky few that means getting the chance to break in their brand-spankin'-new 3-D TVs as the matches are broadcast from South Africa. For those who haven't taken the 3-D plunge yet -- be it because of prohibitive pricing or not wanting to deal with the dorky glasses -- Microsoft's Applied Sciences group has shared a new glasses-less 3-D display that could herald the adoption of the sets at long last.
Microsoft's Glasses-Free 3-D Lens: Microsoft
We've seen small-scale glasses-free 3-D displays before, like the LCD screen on Fuji's 3-D camera that use light directed at each eye individually to deliver a stereoscopic image. Microsoft's display does a similar trick, but on a much larger scale. Their lens has a series of LEDs along the bottom edge of the screen that switch off and on rapidly and at varying angles to control where the light goes.
The screen can deliver a 3-D image to two different viewers' eyes at once. In order to do so, its onboard computer has to track their eyes to target the light to each individual. In the past, such systems have been very bulky to account for air space needed between the lens and projector; Microsoft's design, though, uses a lens that tapers from 11 millimeters thick at the top to six millimeters at the bottom. This taper means that the light can travel through the lens instead of thin air, Applied Sciences Group Director Steven Bathiche told Technology Review, meaning the entire setup can substantially shrink in size.
Light from the diodes enters the lens along the bottom and bounces through the lens until it reaches the proper viewing angle, at which point it escapes.
Though the setup currently only has a viewing angle of about 20 to 40 degrees, it's still early in the development stages. One day the lens could oust the now-conventional backlight in LCD HDTVs to bring home a glasses-less screen.
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Somebody call me when Skin-O-Max developes Touch-O-Vision...
I'm still getting that only two people can watch this thing at once. Am I reading this wrong?
Agreed iwillforgetthis, doesn't really solve the party issue. Good for personal home viewing by yourself and your spouse but not more.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jd3-eiid-Uw&feature=player_embedded
After watching that I don't see what the big whoop is?
no one appreciates progress... it says right in the article that its in the very beginings of R&D. its a huge step forward from having to wear glasses, even with glasses based systems, you still have the problem of limited viewing angles and limited views (by how many glasses you have).
this is a decent step forward, that gets me excited at least. its still not perfect but any technological progress is cause for celebration, imho.
Dont spam in comments!!! Its very annoying & counterproductive!!!!!
"Especially when most 3-D TV packages only come with two pairs, with extras running at least $50 a pop."
You should go to a 3D movie at the theatre and keep the glasses you paid for. It's not nearly $50 to watch the movie. Who care what you look like when you're watching a movie anyways?!
this is something I would be more inclined to buy. When it say it has a viewing angle of 20 to 40 degrees does that mean I cant sit directly in front of it?
Yeah there is definitely no way I would ever buy a 3-D TV if I had to wear those lame glasses. Like I need one more thing to lose in the couch along with the remote. Hopefully this new technology is the real deal. I saw a video the other day about a technology that is trying to push 3-D even further actually into holograms! It's pretty unreal. I'll post the link below.
http://www.ndep.us/3-D-Teleconference
@CoolHand032
@iwillforgetthis
a 3D TV that does not require glasses can be viewed by more than 2 people, maybe even a party. but according to this article, they would all have to sit at favorable viewing angles. unless im mistaken, the part that says
"The screen can deliver a 3-D image to two different viewers' eyes at once"
means that each person's eye is getting a different image, which is similar to how 3D glasses work, not that it can project the 3D image to only 2 people.
again, unless im mistaken, what im getting from this article is that this technology is basically projecting the "3D glasses" onto our eyeballs, which would make the 3D glasses that we all used to watch Avatar unnecessary. i hope i didnt just pull this out of my a** if this doesnt make any technological sense
im guessing that this tech is made possible because of that Youtube guy who used the Wii to do this, and out of many suitors, i think he ended up working for Microsoft. could be wrong. i wished the video/guy who invented this tech was referenced. im guessing its this guy and this video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jd3-eiid-Uw
Are our pets going to get confused? Will they try to walk into the tv set?