How does 3D TV work without glasses?

This is a question many people have been asking for a very long time and it’s about time you know the answer. As technology changes, there is a high demand for simpler versions of what we have today. While Passive 3D (3D without glasses) is a few years away, it’s in the making and going to change the way we view our favorite shows, movies and games forever.

The main technologies that get rid of the need for glasses are called Parallax Barrier and Lenticular Lens Technology. Typically, the word ‘autostereoscopy’ is used to easily describe both. These methods redirect images when a person is at a certain viewing angle from the television; a different image is displayed to each eye; creating the illusion of 3D. Hence, why no glasses are required.

Older versions of these technologies could only be viewed by one person at a time and they have to be at a certain distance from the set. This is where the problem lies and why this technology may still be in the making for many years to come. Many companies are working on this technology in an attempt to make it possible to have many viewing angles and not just a few. (There are about 32 viewing angles that a TV must be able to accommodate in order to be able to be used similarly to how your everyday TVs are currently)

Smaller devices are much easier to implement this 3D without glasses idea (like the Nintendo 3DS or cell phones) because the viewing angle is so small and the devices are typically only used by one person at a time.

With Parallax Barrier Technology; instead of having glasses filter out which images each eye sees; there is a material placed in front of the TV screen itself. There are slits in this material, allowing only one eye to see certain pixels; while the other eye can see the rest of the pixels on the display. Brightness is currently an issue with this portion of the non-glasses 3D technology.

Lenticular Technology sends separate images to each eye (similar to those cool cups you can purchase at 7-11 that have ‘moving’ scenes on them). The viewing angle is a bit larger with this technology but if this were implemented today it would be very expensive because of its difficulty to produce. Companies are doing their best to come up with solutions that meet the needs of their customers, so more affordable solutions are being looked into.

Eye tracking is another technology being tested today. There are prototypes that actually track the position of the viewer’s eye; changing the picture to accommodate where they are looking; using the technologies listed above as well. This technology is still new, so it has its imperfections and as of now, only one person can view at any given time.

Because of all the downsides; whether it be expense problems, small viewing angles or the fact that only a single individual can watch, it could be a few years before anything comes out of this. Don’t fret, because the wait is going to be well worth it and from there; the technology is bound to get even better than we can imagine. Prototypes can be seen at Expos around the world.