3D display

Toshiba Corporation

today unveiled a new display technology that allows 3D images to be viewed on a flatbed display without any need for special glasses.

When viewing the display from an angle, 3D images can be seen that stand out several centimetres from the surface.

Some existing 3D displays work by projecting slightly different images to each eye - a form of visual stereo. The displays use micro-lenses that control the direction of light emission, and supporting software that creates images. However, the technology is limited in terms of the viewing angle at which it can display 3D images, and the images are also tiring to view.

Toshiba's new display, on the other hand, employs an integral imaging system that produces light beams similar to those produced by a real object, not a visual representation.

The result is that the Toshiba flatbed display produces a full 3D effect even when viewed at an angle as wide as 30 degrees from the centre of the screen, and from distances of over 30 cm.