Toshiba: 3D TV’s without glasses

Toshiba is aiming to release 3D televisions to the Japanese market by the end of the year which won’t require the user to wear glasses.

Toshiba today announced that they will be releasing two 3D televisions. While this isn’t exciting news in itself, these televisions won’t require viewers to wear special glasses to watch 3D content. These televisions will be released in Japan beginning in December.

According to Toshiba, the new 3D TVs won’t require the use of glasses, instead employing an integral imaging system and a perpendicular lenticular sheet to display smooth, natural images. Toshiba's image processing technology then creates nine parallax images from the original content to display 3D images. The user will see two different pictures with each eye, creating the 3D illusion. Nintendo is also looking to implement a similar system on their 3DS portable console.

The first two models of the Glasses-less 3D REGZA GL1 line using liquid crystals (LCD) will be 12 and 20 inches in size. Prices will start at 120 000 Yen (more than $1400) for the small screen and double for the 20 inch model. Larger screens should also be released in the future.

No need for glasses, but a few recommendations so that you get the best possible 3D viewing experience: the viewer should place themselves 90cm from the 20 inch screen and 65cm from the 12 inch one. Toshiba assures users that their eyes won’t get more tired than watching 3D pictures with glasses.

No information has been provided at this time about the release of these televisions outside of Japan.