Many of you probably don't know but glasses-free 3D TVs have been in the market for a small yet considerable time, in Japan only. 1 Samsung TV and 1 Toshiba's. Both TVs are very expensive and have a limited 3D viewing angles. CES in Las Vegas, 2011, had 2 glasses-free 3D TVs (not sure if they were the same available in Japan) in exposition. Whoever, reports say that one of these had a very weak 3D effect but had larger viewing angles, and the other had a stronger 3D effect with a more limited viewing angle, in summary it literally failed to impress because for both screens you had to stay in specific spots to see anything in 3D, also, to see some convincing they were extra large, 50"+ what is not a very affordable option for potential consumers.

---

Companies have said that the technology needs improvement, and in 15 or 20 years they should have glasses-free 3D TV's at an affordable price and offering great effects.

Surprisingly, this is happening faster than i (and many 3D enthusiasts) expected.

Toshiba announced a new 3D TV in this years IFA, in Berlin that doesn't need glasses, and it makes very clever use of today's technology to fix the viewing spot(s) problem.

That huge screen is said to be able to show high quality (and sci-fi like resolution) 3D in 9 spots, for 9 people to watch, this is some huge improvement taking in consideration the current glasses-free 3D TV's stereoscopic capabilities aren't that good and are hard for 2 or 3 people to see.

Apparently the TV will track the spectators head improvements with a camera and calibrate the 3D effect in real time for them to see, and for me this is called innovation.

"Simple and effective"

Here are the specs of this incredible TV:

- 139.7cm (55&rdquo Glasses-Free 3D TV
- Quad Full HD (3840 x 2160) resolution display
- Face tracking technology via integrated camera
- 2D to 3D conversion with depth control
- Built in Wi-Fi, DLNA
- Freeview HD ready tuner
- Resolution+ and 3D Resolution+
- Toshiba Places
- YouTube™, BBC iPlayer
- Personal TV
- Remote control operation via iPhone
- AutoView ambient light sensor
- Built-in subwoofer
- USB HDD Video Recording
- Auto Calibration
- 4x HDMI, 2x USB

"The ZL2 will be available in Q4 2011 and is expected to go on sale in Germany in December for around 8000 Euros."


So, they said 15 to 20 years? Now i think its much less. With such TV coming out this year i guess the popularization of glasses-free 3D will be coming much faster than we thought. Pushed by this announcement, expect other companies making moves towards this new technology to not lose the market this new TV is targeting. As a quick note, my own family didn't buy a 3D TV because of the glasses, and many people i know didn't, simple because of the glasses.

You saw this happening too? Do you think the glasses-free 3D will "save" the 3D from its considerable not as high as expected sales for all these years?

---

That is it guys, thank you for reading and please leave a commentary

---

source(s)

http://www.crazyengineers.com
http://consumerist.com
IFA Berlin official site.