Tokyo — Toshiba said here Saturday that it will show at International CES a new glasses-free 3D/2D switching panel technology for portable 4K Ultra HD screens.
The technology is said to use low-crosstalk liquid crystal lens technology with a high-definition gradient-index (GRIN) lens for a 15-inch 4K LCD panel.
The GRIN lens system is engineered to avoid image brightness degradation in 3D mode and does not deteriorate image quality in 2D mode. It reduces the abnormal alignment of liquid crystal molecules near the boundaries of liquid crystal lens, reducing crosstalk to 2 percent, against 5 percent in conventional 3D displays, according to Toshiba.
This is achieved by optimizing the orientation of the liquid crystal molecules and the angle of the liquid crystal GRIN lens relative to the direction of polarization of the liquid crystal panel.
By combining this technology with a 15-inch 4K LCD panel, 3D resolution has been increased more than five-fold, making it possible to view high-quality 3D images on the same display used for Ultra HD 2D images.
Toshiba said the technology makes possible a highly portable, compact display that can switch between 3D mode with high-definition resolution and 2D mode with 4K Ultra HD resolution.
Toshiba has marketed glasses-free consumer big-screen 3D televisions and laptop computers for a number of years.
Achieving the high level 3D performance required in B-to-B fields has typically relied on specialized plastic lenses for professional 3D displays, the company said.
However, Toshiba’s specialized 3D display is also required to function as a 2D display for users who need to view 2D images. Toshiba said the switchable aspect is especially important for mobile devices, “where there is a high demand for a product that allows users to easily switch between high-quality 3D and Ultra High-Definition 2D without any need for an additional display.”
Toshiba said it plans to fuse the new technology with a partial 2D/3D switching function that can be applied to any screen size and position. The company expects to ramp up production for B-to-B industrial and medical products that require glasses-free high-definition 3D displays.
