The world’s first glasses-free 3D laptop has the future in its sight
It’s accurate to say that 3D TV hasn’t taken off quite as expected. While the technology is impressive, in a time of financial conservatism the investment required to get going – a compatible new TV and monthly broadcast service subscription – has proved too much of a luxury for the mass market. The need for 3D glasses is another barrier. Who really wants to think about putting on special specs just to watch TV? And, if you’ve got ‘active’ 3D glasses, you need to ensure they’re charged to be able to use them. Not exactly as straightforward as changing channels.
However, in other areas such as gaming, the next level of 3D is emerging. Nintendo recently launched its specs-free 3DS handheld console and now Toshiba has announced the launch of its Qosmio F750 3D – the world’s first laptop that can display 3D images without glasses.
Toshiba’s Qosmio employs a 15.6-inch ‘lenticular’ 3D screen to provide the 3D effect.The technology works by sending two images of slightly differing perspectives individually to the left and right eye, which creates the 3D effect. A webcam built into the laptop also tracks the user’s eye movements, adjusting the 3D effect to match the eye position.
Toshiba has also integrated a feature that can take ordinary 2D DVD content and convert it into 3D
Just to show off, the F750 can also display 2D and 3D content simultaneously – browsing the internet in 2D and having 3D content playing in another window, for example.
The laptop uses a blisteringly fast 2.90GHz Intel Core i7 processor, 6Gb of RAM and a NVIDIA GeForce GT 540M graphics card to power the visuals. In non geek-speak, this equates to a very powerful laptop that will be just at home playing back full-HD content as it will be 3D.
As testament to its technological might, Toshiba has also integrated a feature that can take ordinary 2D DVD content and convert it into 3D, on the fly. It can also be connected to a 3DTV via HDMI for playing back 3D Blu-ray content on the big screen.
Other specifications include Wi-Fi N, USB 3.0 and a 640GB hard drive. A price is yet to be confirmed but the laptop will be launched by the end of August.
While the obvious buyers for a 3D laptop will be game and film fans, this technology also lends itself to professional environments such as architecture, medial and education. Whatever area it proves popular in, we could start seeing it in home TVs in the next few years, possibly starting a resurgence for the demand of 3D. Again.
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It’s accurate to say that 3D TV hasn’t taken off quite as expected. While the technology is impressive, in a time of financial conservatism the investment required to get going – a compatible new TV and monthly broadcast service subscription – has proved too much of a luxury for the mass market. The need for 3D glasses is another barrier. Who really wants to think about putting on special specs just to watch TV? And, if you’ve got ‘active’ 3D glasses, you need to ensure they’re charged to be able to use them. Not exactly as straightforward as changing channels.
