Toshiba shows 3D display with no glasses required

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You’ve probably seen a commercial for the 3D LCD televisions that are now available for the home. Of course, the disadvantage to most 3D solutions is that you have to wear glasses while watching the screen. Tech-On!’s coverage of a new, prototype 2D/3D LCD panel by Toshiba shows that not all 3D solutions involve the need to wear glasses.
The LCD, which was shown during SID 2010 last month, is 12-inches in size and capable of 1400×1050 resolution for 2D images while 3D images have a resolution of 466×350. The display actually consists of multiple panels allowing for up to nine viewpoints. One panel shows a normal 2D image that you can see on any current LCD screen. To achieve 3D with the naked eye, a second panel is used and positioned in front of the LCD panel which has a GRID lens acting as the 3D glasses you would normally wear. The display will even show 2D and 3D images at the same time by allowing the GRID lens panel to be partially turned on.
The downfall of the GRID lens panel is that it is well over ten times thicker then a normal LCD panel which contributes to its slow response speed. Samsung addressed this by adding a third panel that changes the polarization of light between the two panels to allow for high speed switching between 2D and 3D.