This article was originally published on www.display-central.com.
The 3D & Virtual Reality EXPO 2013 has just concluded at the Tokyo BigSight in Japan. Newsight Japan was there showing of its latest glasses-free 3D displays. Here’s a quick run down including the new EyeFly3D.
A 24″ Digital Signage 8-view monitor was shown with built-in real time conversion capabilities. This is a result of a partnership between 3D Impact Media, who provides the conversion capability. This solution allows the real time conversion of 2D, stereo-3D (side-by-side) and even 2D+ depth content into the multi-view format needed for the Newsight Japan display. This is an FPGA hardware board added to the display.
A 6-view prototype display was also shown in a 24″ size. The company calls this a “Tablet 3DTV” as the current display is really a working prototype. The plan is to make a smaller, battery operated display that can add touch capabilities to function as a 3D glasses-free tablet. It will include a conversion engine that can convert side-by-side stereo content to the 6-view glasses-free format, but it is not the engine supplied by 3D Impact Media. It also uses a directional backlight. Newsight Japan is currently seeking partners to help commercialize this.
A third exhibit was debuted in April at the Finetech/Display event in Japan. This is basically a glasses-free 3D panel running a 3D acquarium content, placed inside a regular fish tank with actual water too! This acts as a magnifier and can really accentuate the 3D effect. Newsight Japan CEO Kiyoto Kanda says this was shown because it is a “good eye catcher. People are keen to know how it works and I have had several inquires about it.
Finally, there was a handheld device called EyeFly3D, that couples a lenticular overlay to a smartphone to enable them to display glasses-free 3D content. This is a partnership between Newsight Japan and Nanovue. Several other companies have introduced similar overlays, but they have not really grabbed much market pull, as far as we can tell.
We asked Kanda how this product will be commercialized to get a different result. ”My sales channel is different,” explained Kanda. ”I am approaching to content holders to promote “3Dization” of their 2D content, obtaining the right to 3dize 2D content to be shown by EyeFly3D.” His thinking of how this will work is shown in the figure below.
The lenticular also features very fine pitch of lenses (500K for an iPhone 5 display) so even small text is still readable with the overlay on. That’s a pretty bold claim that we will have to see to believe. This is not a thick overlay but a sleek film that can remain on the phone and act as a screen protector. This is aligned to the phone pixel structure using a test pattern, then users can view 3D content from YouTube or other sources.
We have not seen the product yet to check out the image quality, but some early reports suggest there are issues like very narrow sweet spots and a loss of clarity and brightness. These trade-offs do not sound like prescriptions for success.
The product will ship in July for the iPhone with version for the Sony, HTC and LG handsets to follow later. –Chris Chinnock