No. 231: 200-inch 3D display viewable without special glasses (January 26, 2011)

A 200-inch three dimensional display that allows viewers to see 3D video without special glasses has been developed by National Institute of Information and Communications Technology and JVC Kenwood. This is the world’s largest 3D display of this kind. The two organizations plan to start substantiative experiments in two years with a view to applying it to digital signage and development support system for vehicles. The display is about 2.5 meters high and about 4.5 meters wide. The system uses 64 projectors that create 57 kinds of videos by changing their angles slightly. A viewer can enjoy 3D videos because the sensation of sight makes each of his eyes receives discrete videos. Although large screen has a problem with vertical stripes, the two organizations successfully resolved this problem by using special film and lens to make the brightness and color of the video quality uniform. At the present development stage, a viewer can see 3D video only when he is less than 5.5 meter away from the screen and in an area 1.3 meters from side to side. The two organizations plan to increase the number of projectors to 200 units in the near future to allow a viewer to enjoy 3D video even if he is in an area 4 meters from side to side.