Toshiba designs "glasses free" 3D display

Toshiba Mobile has designed a 21-inch autostereoscopic high-definition display for use with next-generation 3D monitors.

The display – which reportedly allows viewers to watch three-dimensional content without putting on a pair of unwieldy glasses – also helps to “significantly” reduce 3D-related eye fatigue.

“Most 3D products have used special glasses to separate a picture into two images: one for the left eye and the other for the right eye. But the market has strongly desired a more versatile and glasses-free approach that could be used anywhere,” the company explained in an official statement.

“This new product employs an integral imaging system (a ‘light field’ display) to reproduce a real object as a 3D image that can be viewed without glasses over a wide range of viewing angles.”

According to Toshiba, the integral imaging system system boasts a multi-parallax design that allows images to change depending on the viewer’s position.

For example, when viewed in a vertical position, the user faces the upright screen from the front as a person would usually use a 2D monitor.

However, when viewed in a horizontal position, the user overlooks the stereoscopic image formed by the display lying face-up, as one would overlook a relief model. 



As such, the mages seen face-up from the bird’s eye view are more stereoscopic and realistic than those offered by traditional glasses-based systems.