CES 2011

As I was wandering around the 3D Tech Zone, I stumbled upon a small booth with an autostereoscopic 3D LCD TV—in other words, no glasses. Technicolor was demonstrating its algorithm that takes in right and left images, derives depth information for each pixel, and interpolates six additional views between the right and left images, a process that cannot yet be performed in real time.

The display itself uses a lenticular screen over the LCD panel, which is not a new technology. The microlenses in the lenticular screen redirect the light from the pixels in such a way as to create a 3D image within a 10-degree viewing angle, which repeats as you move farther off axis. It works surprisingly well except if one eye is in one viewing window and the other eye is in the next window, in which case the picture looks weirdly discontinuous.