3D smartphone to launch this year says Sharp

A STEREOSCOPIC 3D SMARTPHONE will be launched this year, and by stereoscopic its manufacturer Sharp means it will not need passive or active shutter glasses for depth perception.

At IFA 2010 Sharp has been demonstating its stereoscopic 3D screen technology for smartphones and tablets, which was unveiled in April but it is now talking products. A 3.8-inch and a 10.6-inch stereoscopic 3D screen was on display. Sharp LCD marketing development senior director Q Nishishiba told The INQUIRER, "There will be a smartphone product later this year. It will have a 4.3-inch screen but I can't say who the customer is. The 10.6-inch screen will come in tablet products later."

The displays use what Sharp calls its parallax barrier technolog. A parallax barrier is placed in front of the normal LCD and consists of a layer of material with a series of precision slits, allowing each eye to see a different set of pixels creating the sense of depth. To get this effect however the screen has to be at a specific distance and for the 10.6-inch and 3.8-inch displays its 50cm and 30cm respectively. µ