DTI Demos 46-Inch HD 2D/3D Glasses-Free TV Without 3D Resolution Loss
DTI is demonstrating its prototype glasses-free 46” HD 2D/3D display with resolution recovery, which allows the creation of 3D images with as much resolution as the LCD on which they are displayed. Other glasses-free displays lose a tremendous amount of resolution in order to create the 3D effect. DTI’s display is an eight view “multiview” 1080p display with a large viewing area that allows people freedom to move around in front of it.
Other displays use optics or barriers in front of LCDs to create 3D images. These limit resolution by dividing the available pixels between different perspective views visible from different positions in front of the display. DTI generates its 3D images using a backlight in combination with a fast, off the shelf LCD that sends light from all pixels to all viewing positions in a time sequential fashion, making full resolution images visible from all positions.
DTI is also working with a partner to modify an existing 2 view to multiview converter to work with the new high resolution display. The converter will take in 2D and two-view stereo video streams and convert them to eight-view streams in real time.
A 22” display embodying DTI’s new high definition glasses free technology wowed visitors earlier this year at the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, and attracted interest from several major TV manufacturers. The Company intends to license this superior 3D technology.
“Glasses free displays have been used for advertising and for specialty scientific and telerobotics applications for many years, but they have never caught on beyond those niche markets because of resolution tradeoffs and viewing position restrictions.” said Arnold Lagergren, CEO of DTI. “People expect – and need – to see high definition images on their screens and sit wherever they want to when watching them. Now they can. Now, with the right licensing partners, we are ready to unleash glasses free 3D into all major markets from TV and gaming to medicine, science, engineering, education, simulation, and the military. ”
Vice President Jesse Eichenlaub states: “Other 3D displays get their 3D effects from physical barriers or lenses in front of the LCD. We use patterns of light behind the LCD to produce the 3D effect. Our Time Multiplexed Backlight System, in combination with today’s fast LCDs, overcomes the problems associated with other no-glasses 3D technology, which include loss of resolution, light loss, and moiré effects. Our display can also switch between perfect 2D images and perfect 3D. And this is only the beginning. By using faster LCDs and manipulating the lighting pattern, we can increase the size of the viewing area and allow “flip of the switch” tradeoffs between resolution and viewing area for different applications. For example, as a next step we plan to modify the 46” display to produce 8 unique perspective views at full resolution and 16 unique views at half resolution. And the fastest LCDs available will allow even more views and a wider viewing area.”
“We believe that the technology embodied in this prototype will finally allow glasses free displays to enter and then become standard in many markets for many applications: military, scientific, business, and consumer. Low resolution, sweet spots, and artifacts have kept glasses-free displays out of most markets. Now those are a thing of the past.”