[IFA] Sharp Prototypes Mobile Device With Parallax Barrier Display

Sept 7, 2010 13:19 Fumitada Takahashi, Nikkei Electronics

Sharp Corp exhibited a prototype of a mobile device that can display 3D images and movies viewable with the naked eye at IFA2010.

IFA2010 is a trade show on consumer devices and running from Sept 3, 2010, in Berlin. Specifically, Sharp embedded a 3D LCD panel viewable with the naked eye and a twin-lens 3D camera module in a chassis that looks like a smartphone. At the trade show, the company had a demonstration of taking 3D pictures and displaying them on the LCD panel.

The 3D LCD panel and the 3D camera module were announced in April and May 2010 in Japan, respectively. Though the prototype looked like a smartphone, it only had functions to shoot and display images.

The screen size and the pixel count of the 3D LCD panel are 3.8 inches and 800 x 480, respectively. The panel has slits called "parallax barrier," which partially block light, on the front so that different images are seen by each eye. The best viewing point is about 30cm away from the front of the display.

The 3D camera module has the same specifications as those announced in May 2010, Sharp said. It is equipped with two 5-Mpixel CMOS sensors. The distance between the two CMOS sensors is 30cm. The module measures 13 x 43 x 8mm and can shoot high-definition (HD) movies with a pixel count of up to 1,280 x 720 and a frame rate of 30fps.

In addition, Sharp exhibited a 10.6-inch 3D LCD touch panel that can be viewed with the naked eye. It has a pixel count of 1,280 x 768 and is based on the parallax barrier method. The best viewing point is about 50cm away from the front of the display, the company said.

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